‘Worsening law and order in KP’: Amir Muqam says governor’s rule remains last legal option

PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and States and Frontier Regions, Amir Muqam, on Monday said the security and administrative situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was fast deteriorating and the governor’s rule would remain the last legal and constitutional option with the federal government to protect the province from falling into the hands of terrorists.

“The situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is deteriorating with each passing day and the provincial government is not only incompetent but also least bothered to maintain law and order in the province and resolve basic issues of the people,” he said while speaking at a news conference here.

He said the situation in KP would have a serious and negative impact on the rest of the country and if the provincial government did not control the situation, the federal government might exercise the last option of declaring the governor’s rule in the province.

He held Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and his cabinet responsible for the present crisis. Amir Muqam said the chief minister has given three different deadlines to the federal government for different issues just for his popularity and public consumption, saying the chief minister had never made any serious effort to work on his deadlines.

“First look at the choice of the PTI leadership by selecting this non-serious man as the chief minister for a sensitive province like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Neither the party leadership nor the chief minister himself has any sense of responsibility for the pathetic situation in the province,” he said.

He said the PTI leaders were wasting public resources to secure the release of their leader from Adiala Jail, which was not going to happen as he was facing serious charges. “There are rules and regulations and their leader is not the first person facing charges of corruption and violence. How long the party and their government in KP will continue the violent activities to pressure the judiciary to release their leader,” the federal minister said.

He said corruption was at its peak in the KP government, alleging all transfer postings of government officials were being made on payment. “I am not saying this. Their party leaders and elected representatives have stated this publicly. They are fighting for commission and kickbacks and that’s why the situation has gone from bad to worse in KP,” he added.

Amir Muqam, who also serves as PML-N provincial president, said the people of KP, the army, police and other law enforcement agencies had rendered matchless sacrifices for the restoration of peace in the province and tribal districts.

“But Imran Khan started negotiations with the terrorists and brought them back to the country from Afghanistan. And those terrorists whom they brought back to the country are now killing innocent people, the armed forces and members of the law enforcement agencies in the province,” he said.

He alleged that PTI had the sole agenda to destabilize the country on the orders of their masters sitting abroad. “After ruling KP for more than 10 years, they are now planning to sell properties meant for colleges and universities. Twenty-five public sector universities have been without full-time vice-chancellors,” Amir Muqam said.

He said southern districts of KP were already in turmoil due to the incompetence of the provincial government. Amir Muqam said that now similar terrorist incidents started in the Malakand Division, particularly Swat valley.

“What happened to the foreign diplomats in Swat on Sunday was alarming and tragic. I condemn the terrorist incident in Swat in which the foreign diplomats luckily remained safe but its negative consequences were beyond repair for Swat and the Pakhtuns,” Amir Muqam stated.

He said Pakhtuns were peace-loving people and had always been loyal to Pakistan but accused the PTI leadership of creating an impression as if the Pakhtuns were anti-state. He said he had personally suffered seven life attempts but always stood by his people in crisis.

“In these seven terrorist attacks on my life, I lost 52 people but I continued to serve my country,” he said. Amir Muqam said the provincial government in Punjab was initiating innovative projects for people while the KP government was only wasting resources on protests and agitations.

“The PTI has been in power for 10 years in KP and ruled for four years in the centre. Can they show us a single project that they executed in KP?” Amir Muqam asked. About the chief minister’s statement that he would send a delegation to Afghanistan for talks, Amir Muqam said it was purely a federal subject but Gandapur made the remarks for cheap popularity.

He condemned the act of the Afghan consul general in Peshawar for not standing during Pakistan’s national anthem at an event and informed the Afghan government that such irresponsible behaviour of the diplomats could endanger relations between the two brotherly countries.

“The Afghans should not forget that Pakistan is the only country in the world that hosted the largest number of refugees for more than 40 years. Even now we are hosting three million Afghans and only 1.4 million of them have PoR cards, the remaining are living here without any legal documents,” the federal minister said.