QWP leader hails PHC verdict on controversial ordinance

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader and former senior minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Friday welcomed the verdict of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) declaring illegal the promulgation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance.

According to a press release, he was talking to a delegation of lawyers, who announced joining the QWP. The lawyers, who joined the QWP, included Hashim Khan, Mohammad Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb Khan, Sabz Ali Shah Afridi, Ajmal Khan and Aftab Ahmad. They reposed confidence in the QWP leadership and vowed to work for strengthening the party.

Sikandar Sherpao lauded the PHC for declaring unconstitutional the functioning of the internment centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the government should avoid making laws that violated rights of the people enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. The QWP leader added that the Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance had been promulgated to deprive the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of their constitutional rights.

Sikandar Sherpao also condemned the killings of the truck drivers in Karachi and called for launching an investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said efforts should be put in place to avoid such occurrences in future as it would further deepen the sense of alienation among the Pakhtuns.

The former senior minister demanded the provincial government to declare Mardan, Swabi and Charsadda calamity-hit as the recent hailstorm badly damaged standing crops and orchards. He said the government should waive off the agricultural tax and compensate the farmers for the losses they sustained.