Deaths of 2.3 million Pashtuns....

Asfandyar blames religious parties for deaths of 2.3 million Pakhtuns
Staff Report
Daily Times, October 15, 2006

PESHAWAR: Nationalist leader and Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan said on Sunday that religious parties were responsible for the deaths of 2.3 million Pakhtuns in the name of Islam in Afghanistan and Waziristan.

“People like Sirajul Haq (NWFP senior minister) should stop criticising nationalist parties, or they will be held answerable for the blunders of Maulana Abu Ali Maudoodi and Mian Tufail,” Asfandyar told reporters at an iftar dinner hosted in his honour by ANP leader Azam Khan Hoti.

He said religious parties were equally to blame as the government for “the failed foreign policies”. He said, “The government has made their brethren (Afghans) hostile towards Pakistan while promoting friendly relations with India.”

Khan alleged that the country’s religious parties allowed the slaughter of 2.3 million Pakhtuns in Afghanistan and Waziristan to gain power in the NWFP.

Asfandyar alleged that all signatories of the North Waziristan peace deal were those wanted by the government and its intelligence agencies for terrorist acts and challenged the government to disclose the name of a single signatory of the deal who had been a tribal elder in the past. He said the current strained relations with Afghanistan were because of that deal, which, he said, increased conflict in Afghanistan. He said that the government should have consulted all stakeholders before signing the peace deal, especially Afghanistan, which was directed affected by the activities in the Pakistani tribal areas. He said that the deal was signed in haste and had resulted in a tremendous increase in terrorist activities in Afghanistan, including a life attempt on Maulana Kalam, for which he held the “Taliban in Pakistan” responsible.

He said that his party would support any agreement between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan and suggested that a grand jirga be set up for the task.

Regarding the arbitration tribunal’s decision on the issue of net hydel profit for NWFP, he said it was not a success as the provincial government had termed it. “According to the ANG Qazi Formula, NWFP had Rs 600 billion outstanding against WAPDA, but the tribunal gave it only Rs 110 billion, sacrificing almost 500 billion,” he said.