Karachi: ANP not involved in land grabbing, says Shahi Syed

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Gibran Ashraf
The Awami National Party (ANP) is not involved in land grabbing or spreading Talbanisation in the province. Taliban are the creation of the establishment and if any such elements are discovered to have party links, such members would be immediately disowned by the party and handed over to local police for action.

This was stated by President ANP (Sindh) and Pakhtoon Loya Jirga (Pakhtoon Action Committee) Shahi Syed while speaking at ‘Meet the Press’ programme of Karachi Press Club on Friday evening.

Presenting his version of the allegations levelled against his party, Shahi Syed said, “There is no provision for democracy in Islam . . . many political parties demanding votes in the name of Islam have regularly failed to provide an Islamic system to the people . . . and the Taliban are an international conspiracy against Pakhtoons.”

As he accepted the fact that there was corruption all around, he was careful to point out the blackmailing carried out by journalists and the lack of faith showed by officials and politicians alike. He was agitated by the behaviour of religious scholars who had started indulging in politics without delivering on their promises.

He said that today Pakhtoons were being discriminated against by the Urdu speaking and the situation has worsened as all Pakhtoons were being labelled as terrorist. Dismissing the statements of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) about Talibanisation in Sindh, he said that the factors that determine the growth of Taliban or such elements were not witnessed in Karachi. These include lack of mountains and caves to serve as hideouts; the lack of a border which provide a supply line and escape route, and lastly that Karachi happens to be a heterogeneous city where the presence of Taliban (unlike in Waziristan and Swat) would be immediately spotted, he added.

Addressing the question of guns and target killing, he called upon the government to take steps to make Karachi a commercial hub where carrying weapons should be banned, whether licensed or unlicensed. He also urged the public to report to authorities about suspicious elements so that miscreants could be identified and taken to task. “The Jamat-e-Islami has also played its part in the spread of Kalashnikov culture in the country,” he alleged.

Regarding the pressing question of land grabbing, and the bone of contention between the Pakistan People’s Party, MQM and the ANP in this regard, Shahi Syed said that without police knowledge no one could grab even an inch of land. “This proves that land was being grabbed in connivance with the police. The police receive its share for every piece of land being grabbed,” he said. He however, pledged that any member of ANP, if found with proof to have grabbed land, he was willing to disown the member.

He further said that ANP was in a disadvantageous position in Sindh unlike other mainstream parties since ANP knows that they could never beat the PPP or the MQM to form majority government in Sindh and thus would never have the chance to exert its influence on the police as the other parties do in controlling transfers and other powers of the government.

He went on to say that his commitment to creating peace could be gauged from the fact that due to the increased politicising of the Pakhtoon Students Federation (PSF) and its illicit activities this student group was dismantled. He, however, maintained that educational institutions should be utilised for the dissemination of quality education rather than serving as the breeding ground for future party workers.

Answering questions of journalists, Shahi Syed said that there exists an element of distaste among the ANP members owing to the events in the previous administration during which various settlements (shanty towns) were razed to the ground and problems were created in getting national identity cards, while domiciles were not allowed to be issued from Sindh.

He said that the ANP did try and visit Nine-Zero to extend their hand of friendship, law and order situation was created which disrupted talks. “I am bound by my customs that when a member of my family is killed, I do not go to the murderer and talk of forgiveness, they should come to me,” Shahi Syed said.

In the end, he said that if he would have to, he would not hesitate in dissolving the party, however, every institution - from the police to politicians and people to the media - all need to be self critical and not indulge in double standards. He alleged that government vehicles were being used for transporting drugs and added that such elements should be taken to task like other smugglers.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=206045