F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) senior vice-president and Member National Assembly Ghulam Ahmed Bilour on Monday warned of launching a protest drive against the gas load shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Talking to Media at his residence, the ANP leader asked the government to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to Peshawar as the residents were suffering due to hours-long gas load shedding.
He warned of launching a protest campaign against the federal government if the gas issue was not resolved within a week.
Ghulam Bilour claimed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing surplus gas but was denied its due right to utilize its resources.
“Punjab had usurped the resources of smaller provinces in violation of the Constitution as the 18th Amendment had the first use right of provinces over its resources,” Bilour maintained.
The ANP leader said that children in Peshawar were contracting cold-related diseases and residents had been forced to go for work and schools without breakfast due to the gas load shedding.
To a question about the early election, the ANP leader said election before its schedule was not in the interest of the country.
He added that election should be held on time and that the idea of national government would be detrimental to the national unity.
He criticized the government for backtracking on the Fata merger issue, saying that it was not the first time that government had removed the Fata reforms from the cabinet agenda.
He alleged that the government was appeasing some forces at the expense of the entire tribal population.
Ghulam Ahmed Bilour claimed that draconian laws in tribal region had created a sense of alienation among the tribes people and urged the government to respect the wishes of the people of Fata.
He also criticized the US President Donald Trump over his irrational statement on Pakistan, saying that Trump should refrain from issuing threats. “US president should admit Pakistan’s sacrifices and should not abandon the joint efforts for defeating terrorism and extremism,” he added.
