The Lahore High Court's order to build Kalabagh dam will undermine the federation, ANP leaders concurred on Friday. According to them, the issue did not fall under the court's purview and it was against national interest. Addressing a press conference, ANP's Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Senior Vice-President Haji Adeel and Information Secretary Zahid Khan said that the court had exceeded its limits in the order, adding that it had "the tone of Takht-i-Lahore".
Terming Kalabagh dam's construction "undoable" in the light of the ruling of the Council of Common Interest (CCI), he said that Kalabagh Dam was a political and technical issue. Punajb, he said, had been using the water share of Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and collected Abyana worth Rs 60 billion since 1991, but did not pay any compensation.
Haji Adeel said that the issue of Kalabagh Dam "is dead and we do not want to re-open it". "Three provinces have passed resolutions against the dam, while rejecting the idea of constructing the much-politicised dam," he said. He said that they would not go to court because the matter did not come in its purview.
It was not possible to build a bungalow in Lahore with its swimming pool in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said Expressing reservations over the Court order, Afrasiab Khattak urged LHC to abstain from controversial decisions. "We respect courts, but courts should also behave (in a manner) for which the people respect it," he said, adding that such decision would harm the federation. ANP's spokesperson Zahid Khan said digging up the matter was futile, adding that controversial issues should not be reopened.