Mushtaq Ghani says excluding the western route from the corridor shows federal government’s prejudice against Hazaras and Pashtuns
PESHAWAR, October 20: Pakhtunkhwa government spokesperson Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani has said that the provincial government would file a petition in the Supreme Court if KP’s due share in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is denied.
Talking to media, Mushtaq Ghani said excluding the western route from the corridor shows federal government’s prejudice against Hazaras and Pashtuns.
He said that unlike Punjab, which has been given many projects, including electricity, gas, LNG, fiber optics and industrial zones along with routes, Pakhtunkhwa was just given one road and deprived of other facilities.
Ghani said that the province was deprived of its due share in the royalty of oil and gas, adding that the excise taxation was also biased. He added that the province receives royalty of Rs75 per kilo, “but the federal government doesn’t give us penny”.
The spokesperson lamented that the centre was “trampling on the rights of smaller provinces” and said everything was being manipulated to benefit the country’s most populated province.
“We are grateful to China for the corridor as the internal matters are in the hands of the federal government, which is prejudiced against the province and excluded the western route,” said Ghani.
He added that that the Chinese ambassador had revealed it to Pervez Khattak that the exclusion of western route was the centre’s decision.
“The 50-kilometre route that passes through Dera Ismail Khan has been snatched from us, we won’t let anyone take our right,” said the spokesperson.
Ghani said that Pakhtunkhwa’s due share was denied because the federal government’s aims to give the benefit to southern Punjab. “We are glad that the remote areas of Punjab are being facilitated but what’s our crime to deserve nothing,” lamented the spokesperson.-Agencies
