ISLAMABAD: PTI leaders on Saturday criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif for labelling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as ‘a corridor of terrorists and smugglers’, adding that the PDM government was responsible for the resurgence of terrorism.

Speaking at a press conference along with Punjab PTI Secretary Information Shaukat Mahmood Basra, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan blasted her for blaming the KP government and PTI for political instability.

He said the Sharif family was known for enmity with KP, which was evident from Nawaz Sharif’s statement who used to call the people ‘fool’ for inflicting him and his party repeated defeats.

Mr Hasan also lambasted Maryam Nawaz for accusing KP of transporting lethal strings to Punjab. He said the Sharifs and their ‘facilitators’ were responsible for the resurgence of the terrorism in the country, claiming that the PML-N, PPP, MQM and other components of the PDM conspired to “topple a stable PTI government to create a political vacuum that was then filled by terrorists”.

Raoof says all provincial governments, except KP, are fake and unlawful

He said terrorism was not a new phenomenon as the issue dated back to the era when her father Nawaz Sharif was part of the government with the support of the military that “imported terrorism” in Pakistan.

Despite the PML-N mindset, he recalled, the PTI adopted a quite positive attitude towards the Centre, as recently KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur visited Islamabad to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Shahrif and then Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi during a visit to Peshawar met CM Gandapur due to which the PTI faced a backlash and severe criticism from party cadres and supporters.

But he said they conveyed their rationale to the workers and activists to convince them that being a federating unit, it was a constitutional obligation to keep a healthy working relationship with the Centre despite differences.

However, he lamented that despite all the good gestures by the KP government, the Centre miserably failed to honour its responsibilities, as it neither appointed officers sought by the KP government nor release the long-pending funds of the province due to which the province was facing a financial constraint.

Moreover, Mr Hasan lashed out at Amir Muqam and other political rivals who were openly advocating enforcing a governor rule in the province even though such a move would be against the assembly’s resolution and thus unconstitutional.

He lamented that the Constitution was being disregarded, rule of law non-existent and morality ruined during the past two years.

He recalled that the political parties blaming the PTI for resurgence of terrorism had publicly badmou­thed the judges and generals.

People haven’t forgotten Nawaz Sharif’s Gujranwala speech, he said, adding that Sharifs had a history of “attacking state institutions as Nawaz’s goons attacked Supreme Court and bought judges”.

The PTI leader said that all provincial governments, except KP’s, are “fake and unlawful” and the reason of their frustration was that the nation rejected them on Feb 8, as none of the members of Sharif family including Nawaz Sharif could actually win their seats and soon the tribunals would expose their “polls fraud” before the nation.

He vowed that they would continue their struggle against “mandate theft” until reclaiming their mandate in KP, Punjab, Centre, Sindh and Balochistan. He went on to say that the people would not let the “criminals to escape” the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Basra said the Sharif family and the Punjab CM were taking revenge of the “humiliating defeat” in the elections. Then putting all the economic burden of government policies on farmers was highly condemnable, he said.

Due to very expensive fertilisers and the highest production cost, farmers were afraid of heavy financial losses, he added, while reminding people that Imran Khan’s government had adopted a “commendable policy of improving the economy of the farmers” who were given better reward for their labour.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2024