PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Wednesday staged protest rallies against the targeted killing of its young election candidate, Musawir Dawar, in Mirali, North Waziristan.
The protest call was given by the ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) president Aimal Wali Khan. The protesters claimed that the government has “failed” to protect the lives of citizen and ensure equal playing field to all election candidates. Addressing a protest rally, the ANP Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the aim of the attack was to prevent ANP from participating in Local government but the party will never left the field open for the “anti-Pashtun elements”.
Read more: ANP election candidate shot dead in North Waziristan
“We cannot be intimidated by such attacks,” the senior ANP leader said, while leading a protest rally, in Nowshera. “Whatever circumstances may be, the followers of non-violence ideology will continue peaceful resistance for Pashtuns’ rights.” Hussain said that the ANP has a clear stance against terrorism and accused the PTI government of not taking the terror threats seriously. “The government has ignored the 20-points National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism,” he said. NAP was formulated after the 2014 army public school attack to root out terrorism from the country.
A young election candidate of the Awami National Party (ANP) Musawir Dawar has been gunned down by unknown persons in Mirali bazaar ahead of Local government elections. Dawar was targeted by unknown motorcyclists outside the party election office in the broad day light. Daily Mashriq has reported that his uncle, a tribal elder Malik Gul Selah, have also escaped several targeted attacks. The report added that in the past three years, it was 166th targeted attack in North Waziristan.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the administration, government and the state were responsible for the tragic killing of the ANP candidate. The ANP leader warned the state that law and order situation in the province, including Waziristan, is deteriorating. He said that it is the responsibility of the state and the government to provide security to every citizen.