PESHAWAR: Awami National Party leader Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour urged religious parties on Wednesday to issue an edict declaring that killers of Muslims were non-believers. He also said that his party would henceforth lodge cases against the President, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the Army Chief and the Chief Election Commissioner if any act of terror was carried out against ANP leaders and its workers. Mr Bilour, who survived a suicide bombing in Yakatoot area of Peshawar on Tuesday which left 15 people dead, said at a press conference at his residence that he was not worried about his own life but was saddened by deaths of innocent people in the attack claimed by Taliban. Dawn, The News.
CHARSADDA: A leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) escaped unhurt in a roadside remote-controlled bomb explosion in Sardheri on Wednesday. Farooq Khan, vice president of the ANP in the area comprising the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency PK 17, was going to Peshawar along with his family when the bomb planted by unidentified men in Shiekholocality of Sardheri region went off. Mr Khan`s car was damaged but he and his family members escaped unhurt. The powerful blast was heard far and wide. Dawn, The News, The Express Tribune.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said it has no plan to keep any politicoreligious party out of the electoral arena. `We have just explained the substantive legal provisions that require candidates not to seek vote in the name of religion and this explanation must not be misconstrued,` an ECP official told reporters on Wednesday. Under Section 78(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1976, those who call upon or persuade any person to vote, or to refrain from voting, for any candidate on the ground that he belongs to a particular religion, province, community, race, caste, sect or tribe are liable to be tried for corrupt practices a crime which may entail imprisonment for up to three years. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: The students of government primary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will learn primers of their respective mother tongue in ongoing academic year, which started this month. The provincial Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department has introduced four regional languages, including Hindko, Seraiki, Khowar and Kohistani, as compulsory subject in educational institutions from academic year 2013-14, while Pashto was introduced the previous year, according to the E&SE department officials. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday decided to provide five Frontier Constabulary personnel as security guards to every national and provincial assembly candidate in the province until the May 11 elections. The decision came after caretaker Chief Minister Justice (r) Tariq Pervez chaired an all parties` conference convened by his government at Chief Minister`s House here to discuss security issues related to elections. Dawn.
KHAR/GHALANAI: The activists of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies have criticised the parliamentary board of the party for awarding tickets to what they call undeserving candidates for the upcoming general elections. PTI has awarded ticket to Gul Dad Khan for NA-44 in Bajaur, however, the party hasn`t finalised the name of its candidate for NA-43 in the same tribal region. Muambar Khan, a senior PTI leader in Bajaur, confirme d that ticket for NA-44 was allotted to Gul Dad Khan. Dawn.
KOHAT: The JUI-F candidate from PK-37 Ghulam Habib has claimed that if his party comes to power they would abolish the seats reserved for women. He also accused the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of turning the women parliamentarians into models and show pieces in the assemblies. Mr Ghulam Habib, who is a favourite in the provincial assembly constituency, also criticised the media for what he described `praising` the beauty and attire of the female parliamentarians, which he claimed, was un-Islamic. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: President Hamid Karzai has condemned the suicide attack on the public meeting of the Awami National Party (ANP) and termed it an attack on leaders striving for the progress and development of the Pakhtuns. Through a statement on Wednesday, he said the president condemned the bomb attack on Ghulam Bilour and Haroon Bilour and said the attack targetted a party, which was founded on the basis of non-violence philosophy preached by Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan.
“The attacks were the handiwork of the people who want to sideline Pakhtuns living on the other side of the Durand Line from the political and collective field. The News, The Frontier Post.
TANK: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has awarded the party ticket to senior tribal politician Dost Mohammad Mahsud for NA-42 South Waziristan Agency. Talking to reporters here Wednesday, Dost Mohammad Mahsud thanked the PTI chief, Imran Khan for reposing confidence in him and said he would utilise all his resources to convey his message to the militancy-stricken tribespeople and win the election. The News.
WANA: A suspected key commander of banned TTP outfit and five others were killed in a drone attack in the tribal area of South Waziristan area, local officials said on Wednesday. The attack, conducted at 2:00 AM on Wednesday morning, targeted TTP center situated in Baber Kot area of Sararogha Tehsil of South Waziristan Agency resulting in the killing of commander Madni of Hakeemullah Mehsud group. The aircraft continued its flight in the area for some time, spreading harassment in the area. It is pertinent to mention here that on March 14, three foreigners were killed in the first CIA-sponsored assault after the caretaker setup has been put in place. The Frontier Post, The Express Tribune.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Engineer Shaukatullah has asked the respective authorities of the national building departments working under the aegis of FATA Secretariat especially its Department of Planning and Development to ensure timely completion of the ongoing projects. He has further desired not to compromise on quality of work as well, otherwise the concerned head of the department will be held responsible. He was presiding over a high level meeting at Governor’s House, Peshawar on Wednesday wherein pace of progress on developmental projects in FATA was reviewed in detail. The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Quick response forces (QRF) are to be deployed in every district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to man polling stations during the general elections. “Keeping in mind the sensitive nature of the days immediately before and after the elections ,along with Election Day itself, QRFs will be ready to counter any untoward situations at polling stations throughout the province,” said caretaker Information Minister Mossarat Qadeem on Wednesday. The deployment of QRFs has already been discussed with the army, she added. The Express Tribune.
WANA: At least one person was killed and 20 others were wounded on Wednesday when the Pakistani army and Taliban militants clashed in Miranshah, an official said. “Twenty people were injured and one was killed during the clash between the army and militants,” Dr Niaz Ahmed, from the main Miranshah hospital, told AFP. The violence began just before sunset when militants started firing at army troops during which a local grocery trader was killed in the cross-fire, said an AFP journalist who lives in the area. The Express Tribune.
HANGU: The Hangu police on Wednesday chalked out a security plan for polling stations in the area. Talking to journalists at his office, DPO Hangu Sajjad Khan said 159 polling stations would be established in the district out of which 37 were termed ‘normal’, 65 ‘sensitive’ and 57 ‘most sensitive’. He said elite force personnel along with the police would be deployed in most sensitive stations in order to control the situation in case of any mishap. The Express Tribune.
ON March 31, in an unprecedented move two women Badam Zari from Bajaur and Nusrat Begum from Lower Dir filed nomination papers for the election. A former district vice president with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Nusrat Begum is the first woman candidate from Lower Dir, a district where women voters were often barred in the past. Although these two candidates illustrate a positive change in pre-election Pakistan, electioneering remains a male contest. Indeed, women`s lack of voting rights remains a serious problem which begins with the low number of women who are registered as voters. Dawn.
FRC REPORT
BAJAUR AGENCY: Elders of Salarzai tribe of Bajaur agency on Wednesday said that they will continue its full cooperation with the administration and the security forces in maintenance peace and while keeping intact the writ of government in the area during the election, FRC Field Reporter learnt. This announced was made by the elders of Salarzai tribe during a jirga with the officials of local administration here at Khar. The jirga was chaired by Assistant Political Agent Bajaur Assad Sarwar, which attended by large number of elders and members of peace committees belonging to the various area of Salarzai tehsil. Law and order situation, maintenance of peace and plan for the holding of election in the area were discussed in the jirga. Addressing the jirga Assistant Political Agent said that the administration is committed in maintaining law and order in the area because peace and writ of the government is vital for holding free, fair and transparent election in agency.
