PESHAWAR: Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership of exploiting the emotional party workers against the state and institutions as the ruling party members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly debated the casualties, arrest and detention of the party workers in Islamabad on November 26.
PPP parliamentary party leader Ahmad Karim Kundi said KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur had escaped and disappeared for the third consecutive time from the spot when the PTI protest had reached its climax. “The PTI leadership is playing with the sentiments of emotional youths and pushing them to the politics of violence, hatred, gun and confrontation,” the PPP MPA said and added that neither the PTI leadership nor its workers had learnt from their past mistakes. He said that despite a clear directive from the Islamabad High Court, the PTI leadership had led the PTI workers to Islamabad D-Chowk. The PPP MPA said even the federal government had advised them to hold the protest on the suburbs of Islamabad. “The time when the PTI staged a 126-day sit-in at D-Chowk is gone, as back then, the establishment was backing you. Now, with their support withdrawn, you couldn’t even last 26 minutes at the same venue,” he said, urging the PTI leadership to engage with political parties and the civilian government instead of relying on the establishment. The PPP MPA said the CM House in KP had become a hub of activities and gatherings against the federal government where the slogans of Al Jihad were raised before leaving for Islamabad on November 24. “As a political party worker, we condemn violence against peaceful workers but some elements within the party had desired to do politics over dead bodies,” he said and added and that like PTI slain workers, the KP chief minister should have announced same compensation for the victims of Kurram incident where more than 132 people were killed and hundreds injured. Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary party leader Arbab Usman Khan stated that the ANP’s history was marked by political imprisonment, exile, arrests, and detention. “However, the party’s leadership has never endorsed violent protests or hatred against the state,” he added. “Our leaders and workers fought against terrorism and made sacrifices for peace on our soil, yet we remained committed to the politics of non-violence and peace,” he said. The ANP MPA said the PTI-led government should focus on good governance, law and order, and service delivery, as the party is now in power for the third consecutive term in the province. The lawmaker said, “Kurram, Dera Ismail Khan, Waziristan, and other parts of the province are engulfed in violence and militancy, while our provincial government is engaged in confrontations with the federal government for its own political purposes.” He said the current PTI government has not initiated a single development project in the province over the past 10 months. PTI MPAs, including cabinet member Fazl Hakeem Khan, had termed November 26 as the blackest day in the history of Pakistan when the state opened tear gas, rubber bullets and straight fire over the peaceful workers of PTI at D-Chowk and other parts of the federal capital. Abdul Ghani Afridi, Samillah Khan, Khalid Khan and Ajmal Khan of the PTI participated in the debate over violence against PTI workers in Islamabad. They alleged the federal government was not handing over dead bodies to the relatives while the injured at hospitals were being mal-treated and investigated. The PTI lawmakers claimed that hundreds of the PTI workers were still missing while those arrested and detained were kept in jails and lock-ups beyond capacity. Announcing to form a commission for the protection of the rights of overseas Pakistanis, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed the Overseas Pakistanis Commission Amendment Bill 2024.
Provincial Minister for Law Aftab Alam presented the bill in the House. Under the bill, a commission would be formed to protect the rights of overseas Pakistanis. An officer of Grade 20 or above would be the commissioner of the commission while the chief minister will be its chairperson. The session, chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, was adjourned till Thursday afternoon.
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