No war can be lost in such a climate of unity and unanimity while the province shall fight it out triumphantly in larger national interests.
He was addressing the concluding session of Parliamentary Jirga on hydle net profit issue that was urgently convened with NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani in the chair at Frontier House, Islamabad in the backdrop of appointment of new Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
The meeting besides others was attended by MNAs Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, Maulana Naseeb Ali Shah (MMA), Senator Farhatullah Babar (PPPP), Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani (PML parliamentary leader), Bashir Ahmad Bilour ANP Parliamentary leader, Salim Saifullah Khan (PML central leader), Nighat Aurakzai MPA, former finance ministers Farid Rehman, Iftikhar Mohmand, Secretary Finance Ziaur Rehman, Secretary Law Amir Gulab Khan, Advocate General Barrister Jehanzeb Rahim, and Barrister Zahid Saeed.
Sirajul Haq regretted that attitude of delaying rights was adopted in Pakistan for long that has come into existence for ensuring rights to all and sundry.
He said settling hydle net profit issue has become popular demand of Frontierites and further delay in meeting it would shake public confidence on centre besides, increasing their sense of deprivation.
The NWFP senior minister agreed to the viewpoint of most of the participants that constitution of Arbitration Tribunal was a breakthrough in resolving this long-standing issue as Wapda earlier negated existence of such problem after capping net profit at Rs 6 billion per annum.
He, however, said the Jirga besides continuing political endeavours must then focus on technical aspects of arbitration and computation of the net profit amounts, adding the Centre was trying to impress Frontier government by airing the fear that computation might result in the decrease of province's declared profit rate of Rs 17 billion annual and Rs 345 billion outstanding dues, but it would prove vice versa and the new calculations yield more increase in the profit amounts.
The meeting took stock of recommendations about nominations for two members and chairman of arbitration tribunal, proceedings of the previous meetings, and took certain decisions about future line of action.
It showed the confidence that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would solve this issue in his early honeymoon period owing to his commitments as federal finance minister in the recent past.