Siraj asks Centre not to make CPEC controversial

TIMERGARA: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Sunday asked the federal government not to hoodwink the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and give it its due share in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Talking to reporters at Ahyaul Uloom in Balambat here, the JI chief advised the federal government to avoid making CPEC a controversial project like the Kalabagh dam. “Giving preference to eastern route while totally ignoring the western route is tantamount to usurping the rights of smaller units,” the JI chief went on to say.

The JI leader said the federal government had made the game-changer project disputed due to its ambiguous policy. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif doesn’t not seem sincere in this regard,” he claimed, adding in the premier did not honour his pledges made at the all parties conference.

Sirajul Haq said the senate committee on CPEC under the chairmanship of Senator Taj Haider had proposed Chitral and Malakand division as an alternate route to Gilgit-Baltistan. “The Chitral-Malakand division route directly connects Tajikistan with Pakistan through Wakhan Corridor,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami’s provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan on Sunday accused the federal government of changing the original route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it would deprive the smaller provinces of their due rights.

Addressing the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected JI Upper Dir district office-bearers, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had promised the all parties conference that the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor would be accorded priority.

JI’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Sahibzada Tariqullah, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah, JI provincial head Maulana Asadullah, District Nazim Upper Dir Sahibzada Fasihullah and others attended the ceremony. “Now the prime minister should honour the pledges he had made to the nation,” he stressed.

He added those whose names were mentioned in the Panama Papers should be brought to justice. He said the Supreme Court had taken the right step by ordering the formation of a commission to probe the Panama Papers leaks.

The JI leader criticised the federal government for not giving the arrears of net hydel profits to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the provincial government had to spend up to 65 percent of the money on paying back its debts.