Khawaja Asif Warns PTI Against Creating Conditions for Imposed Governor’s Rule in KP
ISLAMABAD:Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that the situation being created by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is effectively inviting the imposition of an overt governor’s rule in the province.
Reacting to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar’s statement that an “undeclared governor’s rule” was already in place in KP, Asif said the conditions being created by the PTI itself were paving the way for an openly imposed governor’s rule.
In a post on X, the defence minister accused the PTI-led provincial government of showing “criminal indifference” towards terrorism in the province while remaining focused on what he described as a failed political long march.
Asif said five innocent people were killed in a terrorist attack in Dera Ismail Khan on October 6, including two customs officials. He criticised the provincial government, including the chief minister and cabinet, for allegedly failing to condemn the killings or visit and express condolences to the bereaved families.
“This is unacceptable by any standard,” he said.
The minister alleged that while the province was facing a fresh wave of terrorism, the KP chief minister and cabinet were preoccupied with their political activities instead of addressing the security situation.
Asif further claimed that the chief minister had summoned the Inspector General of Police and Chief Secretary of KP late at night to reprimand them for attending a security meeting convened by the governor.
He accused the provincial government of leaving the people of KP “at the mercy of terrorists” and said protests against the provincial government were being held in different parts of the province.
“The people of KP have shed enough blood,” Asif said, alleging that there was substantial evidence of the provincial government’s alleged links with militants and a support ecosystem for terrorists.
The defence minister also compared the current situation with the period when the PML-N leadership, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, faced imprisonment during the PTI government.
He said the PML-N had continued to play its constitutional role in Parliament and had fought political and legal battles through constitutional and legal forums instead of holding the country and state institutions hostage.
Asif said the time had come to take “important decisions” and argued that KP could no longer be left at the mercy of what he called an incompetent and insensitive provincial government and “allies of the Taliban.”
He warned that the country’s unity could not be put at risk and that an entire province could not be held hostage for political purposes.
