Victimisation, deprivation undermine Pakhtuns' status: Sherpao

Chairman of Qaumi Watan Party Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that the victimisation and deprivation of Pakhtoons' rights have undermined their status and aggravated the problems that are not acceptable at any cost.
He said this during a press conference at Umarzai Charsadda where former Nazim Umarzai Aashiq Ali Khan along with a number of his supporters joined Qaumi Watan Party.
He said that Pakhtoons had been targeted in the name of security and under garb administrative actions. He said that the discrimination had been meted out to them in Punjab and Sindh as if they are not citizens of this country.
He said QWP had taken up the blockade issue of the national identity cards however; the government has been taking snail's pace measures to resolve the issue. He continued that 90 percent blockade of CNIC belonged to Pakhtoons which created untold problems.
He said that if the blockade issue was not solved within a couple of months it would be deprivation of Pakhtoons from right of franchise in the next elections. He warned that QWP would strongly resist the marginalization of Pakhtoons representation through the blockade of CNIC.
He expressed grave concern over the unannounced and excessive power outage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which brought the socio-economic activities to a total halt. He said the KP had not been provided the benefits of CPEC which also included the electricity facilities.
He regretted that the prime minister's claims of finish power outage in 2018 would not be beneficial for KP unless the whole system of distribution and transmission was overhauled.
He termed the so called measures for the merger FATA-KP as cosmetic and non serious ones. He said that the merger would not only bring unity among Pakhtoons but it would also enable them to play vital role in the mainstream of the country.
Sherpao said the reopening of Pak-Afghan border was goodwill gesture which would boost up trade and social relations between the two countries. He suggested that step by step measures should be adopted for the normalisation of the situation and improvement ties between the two states.