PESHAWAR, Oct 19: The Awami National Party has condemned the government`s plan to omit essays regarding Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Abdul Ghani Khan from the Pashto books for class VH and VIII.

Chairman of ANP`s organising committee Bashir Ahmad Khan Matta, in a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz here on Saturday, vowed that the move would be met with stiff resistance.

He said the personality and endless struggle of Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) for rights of the downtrodden and establishment of peace had been acknowledged worldwide.

He said that the proposed plan was biased and reflected narrow-mindedness because it tended to `distort` history by denying respect to a great leader, which is condemnable in strongest words.Mr Khan said that the party would conduct a research about the proposed plan and would then take concrete measures to thwart the `illintended` move.

The ANP leader also asked the people to stand up against the plan which also included taking out lessons about Ghani Khan, a national poet of millions of Pakhtuns, to thwart `conspiracies` aimed at belittling their men of letters.

`Poetry of Ghani Khan, who was bracketed with Rabindar Nath Tigore and Allama Iqbal by the literary circles, will hurt sentiments of people. It will also be a naked attempt to harm their nationalism and civilisation,` said the statement.

The party, said Mr Khan would chalk out comprehensive strategy after collecting relevant information about the matter and would not allow anyone to play with the sentiments of Pakhtuns. -Bureau Report