PESHAWAR (Agencies) – President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday urged the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not to let outsiders enter their ranks and unite to protect their motherland against all challenges.
Addressing a tribal jirga here at GovernorÂ’s House, the President said every citizen must play his role as complacency has no place in such challenging times. He said the people of the province need to check that their neighbours were not illegal foreigners or were involved in unlawful activities so that they might not create problems for the locals.
The President who was on a daylong visit to the provincial metropolis, said that people here had a better understanding of their surroundings, social customs and they should work together to create a safe environment. He assured full support of the government in this regard.
“We will not let anyone take even an inch of our land and will protect it at the cost of our lives … as we know how much sacrifices had we rendered to get our liberation from the British,” he said.
He said it was his vision that Pakistan emerges as a major world trade route and added the government was committed to achieve all these goals with the help of the people.
Zardari greeted the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for getting their true recognition and thanked Allah Almighty for bestowing on the present government the honour of giving the province its new identity.
He said the government was facing several challenges but hoped that all these would be surmounted. He recalled the past when there were no crimes in Fata and the area was peaceful.
However, he regretted that all those who were granted refuge in these areas, turned out to be bitter enemies in the end and killed Benazir Bhutto. It were they who killed their hosts and their families and led to the destruction of their property.
President said Shaheed Benazir BhuttoÂ’s supreme sacrifice was for the sovereignty of Pakistan. He invited the tribal elders to visit Islamabad and assured that all their problems would be resolved.
He announced that all those who lost their lives in the province would be given equal compensation. He said the budget of the province has increased 30 per cent. The total budget of the province would touch Rs21 billion after adding foreign aid and additional resources of Rs8 billion from the federal government, Zardari said.
President said all the deserving people would get their BISP cards through a transparent and clean system. President Zardari was of the view that government was pursuing the policy of reconciliation of Benazir Bhutto, adding that the NFC Award and 18th Amendment were steps in this regard and assured that much more would be done by the government.
He, however, urged the people not to entertain extreme thinking or rigid views. With flexibility and reconciliation all differences can be resolved, he added.
The President said jirgas needed to be formed and consensus achieved to take along the people of Fata, and to address their problems.