PESHAWAR – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said that restoration of peace in the province was linked with stability in neighbouring country and the region.
He said terrorism was an international phenomenon and called for courage and united stance to combat it. He was speaking at the condolence reference held to pay homage to late Haji Haleem Jan Shaheed at Nishterabad here on Friday.
Provincial Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, parliamentarians, high ranking government officers, representatives of the trading community and social figures attended the ceremony.
On this occasion, glowing tributes were paid to Haji Haleem Jan Shaheed for his services and special prayers were made for his eternal peace. CM Khattak lauded the contribution of late Haji Haleem Jan and said that his sacrifice would be remembered for long. Commenting on the need of restoration peace in the province, he said that “we have been facing the challenge of terrorism for the last couple of years and instead of disappointment there is a dire need to combat it jointly.”
He elaborated that systematic steps were being taken to curb the menace of terrorism and security forces were committed and ready to go to any extent to tackle it. The chief minister said that peace was imperative in Afghanistan for bringing stability in the whole region.
He further said that the Afghan ambassador was categorically informed for ensuring registration of Afghan refugees in the province and their ultimate repatriation to Afghanistan. The chief minister pinpointed that dignified repatriation of Afghan refugees was must for restoration of durable peace in the province.
The chief minister said that funding of terrorists from across the border was the main problem and called for steps to control the sources of funding. He said that the provincial government, on the demand of trading community, had asked for repatriation of FC troops to the province.
The chief minister announced to name Hepatitis Hospital as Haji Haleem Jan hospital. CM Khattak asked the trading community to contact the government before any call for strike or protest. He said that the provincial government had taken steps to solve the grievances of the traders in the past and would initiate measures to redress their problems in future as well.
