Ajmal Khattak's services eulogised: Pakistan paying heavy price for war against terror, says Bilour

NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said on Tuesday that terrorism was not the problem of only Pakistan rather it was a challenge for the whole world and needed collective efforts on the part of every country to eliminate it and restore peace in the region.
He was talking to the Principal Officer of the US Consulate in Peshawar, Candace Putnam who called on him at his residence here. "Pakistan that desired peace in the whole world had been a frontline state in the fight against terror and paid a heavy price for that," he added.
"There was once a time during the Afghan war, when some countries showed their presence there till their designs were met and then left Pakistan alone which cost us heavily as our resources were exhausted due to hosting millions of Afghans refugees," he added.
Kalashnikov and heroin culture too, he said, was the legacy of Afghan war that brought very negative impact on the Pakistani society leading to law and order situation. Militancy got further impetus in the society especially in the Frontier Province due to prolonged dictatorship in Pakistan as well as reaching to the helm of affairs by non-elected people in Afghanistan and consequently the security forces were assigned a difficult task of uprooting terrorism, he observed.
Moreover, the developmental process suffered badly as the funds allocated for uplift activities were diverted to the defence sector. Besides, the martyrdom of many army, police and innocent civilians as well as displacement of the millions of other people, the infrastructure facilities had also been badly damaged in the ongoing war on terror in NWFP, which rehabilitation would require billion of rupees.
He urged upon the world community to extend whole-hearted support to the Frontier Province for the rehabilitation of the affectees and re-construction of the destroyed infrastructure. Bilour eulogised the role of US and other friendly countries for extending moral support to Pakistan in the war against terror and expressed the hope that they would fulfil the promises and commitments made by them.
He assured that Pakistan would continue playing its active role in the fight against terrorism as it had assumed the shape of a global problem and its elimination was in the interest of the people of the whole world, he concluded. Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Railways, Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has said that late Ajmal Khattak had achieved a unique distinction for being a statesman, political philosopher, poet and nationalist leader, who struggled against dictatorial forces in his entire life.
Eulogising his invaluable services for promotion of human right values, straightforwardness and struggle for socio-economic emancipation of downtrodden and marginalised communities, Bilour said that Ajmal Khattak was a progressive national leader who achieved fame through his progressive poetry, literature and healthy politics.
Talking to reporters after offering Fateha for the departed soul of Ajmal Khattak, he said that his death was a great loss for the country and his guiding principles would illuminate hearts of people and young poets in days to come. Ghulam Bilour said that Ajamal Khattak had earned name through his honesty, truthfulness and simplicity in the country and world.