PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday alleged that the federal government usurped the constitutional rights of the people of the province by blockading roads and restricting their right to movement to thwart the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s May 25 Azadi March on Islamabad against it.

It hinted at taking the legal course against the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration.

The issue came under discussion during a cabinet meeting as a single agenda item.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired the meeting.

Spokesman for the government Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif told reporters afterwards that the cabinet discussed the Azad March road blockades issue in detail and authorised the chief minister to decide about action to be taken against the federal government.

He said the cabinet also formed a committee comprising law minister Fazal Shakoor Khan and him to suggest possible measures in that respect.

Mr Saif said the government would raise the issue at all available forums, including courts and the Senate.

He said the federal government had blockaded the government and severed KP’s road connections with Punjab and Islamabad on May 25 violating the constitutional right of the people to freedom of movement.

The spokesman said the people of the province participating in the PTI’s Azadi March on Islamabad had the right to move around freely under Article 15 of the Constitution and the right to hold a political assembly under Article 16.

He said the federal government erected barricades on the Motorway, which was under the control of the National Highway Authority, a federal entity, while those, who tried to remove them, were tear-gassed and tortured by police.

Mr Saif said travel restrictions not only violated articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution but also went against other basic rights of the people.

He said road blockades affected thousands of people commuting among Punjab, Islamabad and KP, and halted mutual trade and goods transportation causing losses worth billions of rupees to businesses.

The spokesman said the May 25 restrictions also troubled ambulances and other emergency services.

“The federal government’s actions on May 25 hampered the supply of medical oxygen to our province, which is an oxygen-deficient province and has to depend on Punjab for supplies to its hospitals,” he said.

Mr Saif said had the roads not been opened ‘on time’, there would have loss of lives due to oxygen deficiency caused by road blockades put up by the federal government.

He said the federal government, in order to stop Azadi March, created a ‘difficult situation’ for the province.

“On May 25, the Shehbaz Sharif administration tried to stop the residents of KP from exercising their constitutional rights,” he said.

The spokesman said Article 158 of the Constitution allowed smooth trade activities and commerce among provinces but the federal government created hurdles to it.

He said hurdles to business activities caused losses of billions of rupees to the people.

“The federal government had registered a large number of cases against our chief minister, ministers and former governor. Now, our ministers are appearing in courts to get transit bails in these cases,” he said.

Mr Saif accused the federal government of misusing its powers and trying to change the PTI Azadi March into a violent march.

“The federal government usurped the rights of the province and its people and tried to change an issue of public interest into a public nuisance,” he said.

The spokesman said the cabinet discussed legal, constitutional and political aspects of the issue and that it, fearing that it might be turned to common practice over coming days, authorised the chief minister to take the required legal and constitutional steps.

Published in Dawn,June 10th, 2022