ABBOTTABAD: Political activists have resented the caretaker chief minister’s move to “ignore” Hazara Division during the formation of his cabinet and insisted that 14 ministers were appointed along political lines and not on “merit.”

They said it was the basic responsibility of the caretaker government to conduct free and fair elections and only a “neutral setup” could ensure it.

The political activists told Dawn that Hazara Division had eight districts but didn’t have a single representative in the 18-member cabinet.

They also complained that members of the caretaker government should be politically neutral people but ironically, the entire provincial cabinet represented elite class or influential political parties.

When contacted, Tehreek-i-Suba Hazara president Sultanul Arfeen Khan said the appointment of the caretaker ministers in the province was a case of the conflict of interest for being made on the wishes of a few political parties.

He said the chief minister treated Hazara Division unfairly by picking none of its residents as his minister.

“I will raise this issue during a seminar on “challenges faced by KP’ at Nishtar Hall in Peshawar,” he said.

Hazara Qaumi Mahaz chairman Qazi Mohammad Azhar also criticised the chief minister’s cabinet selection and said free and fair elections won’t happen until political appointees were part of the caretaker government.

He said many capable people from Hazara division were capable of being the caretaker ministers, so ignoring the region during the cabinet’s formation was a great injustice.

Former secretary of the Tehreek-i-Suba Hazara Sardar Fida Hussain told Dawn that the appointment of the caretaker chief minister and his minister was evidence of the neglect of Hazara division by those at the helm.

He said Hazara’s Hindko-speaking population was denied representation in the cabinet under a “well-thought-out plan to victimise the residents for demanding a separate province.”

“This discriminatory move is meant to create a rife between Pashto and Hindko-speaking people of Hazara division,” he said.

Mr Hussain said the caretaker government came into being after all major parties, including the PTI, developed consensus about it, while its cabinet had representation of all political groups showing that they all were opposed to the cause of Hazara province.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2023