PESHAWAR: Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has said that vandalism on May 9, 2023, is ‘unpardonable crime’ and sparing the people involved in it can trigger a big tragedy in future.

He was talking to journalists during his visit to Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on Tuesday. He visited the press club to condole the death of the mother of senior journalist Bakhtzada Yousafzai.

The governor said that people involved in serious crimes would also seek forgiveness if perpetrators of May 9 incidents were spared. He called for an immediate action against the people involved in May 9 incidents.

He said that soon after taking oath as governor, he announced contesting the case of the province with a pledge that he would never turn Governor’s House into a den of conspiracies against Chief Minister’s House. He said he wanted to play the role of a bridge between provincial and federal governments. “But, they might have considered that I have exhibited weakness,” he added.

Kundi says he wants to play role of bridge between provincial and federal govts

Mr Kundi said that during the last 10 years, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leadership has done nothing for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that he wanted to attract investment to the province and revive sports activities in its playgrounds.

He was also critical of nominal allocation for higher education in the province and asked the provincial government to compete with other provinces while allocating funds for the sector. “Punjab has allocated Rs5 to 6 billion while Sindh has taken lead by allocating the highest amount of Rs25 billion for higher education. The KP government should have allocated more funds for education than other provinces,” he added.

The governor said that the performance of KP government in health sector was also far behind other provinces. He asked media to check the data of health sector to know that how many patients from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were going to Sindh for medical treatment and how many people from Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan were coming to KP for the purpose.

Also, the governor pledged to address the problems of journalists in the province.

He was talking to a delegation of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) led by its president Nasir Hussain, senior vice presidents Abdul Baseer Qalander, Bukhar Shah Bacha and Mohammad Naeem.

He highlighted the importance of positive criticism for societal improvement. He said that peace was essential for economic progress. He urged the chief minister to convene cabinet and apex meetings regarding recent incidents of lawlessness in the province.

The government said that empowerment of women and youth was crucial for progress and development. He pledged to enhance journalists’ skills and resolve their problems on priority basis. He said that he would collaborate with federal government to resolve issues of journalists.

He said that protecting Peshawar’s cultural heritage and promoting interfaith harmony were also his priorities. He announced to form a task force within provincial parties to address infrastructure promises made to designated districts, pledging a focus on affordable electricity and local resource exploitation.

Later, KhUJ officials briefed governor on the challenges faced by journalists and media workers.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024