PESHAWAR: Opposition members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday supported peaceful political protests and accused the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of attempting to incite violence through rallies.

“No political party should be stopped from peacefully holding public meetings and rallies as it is their constitutional right to do so, but the PTI wants to use this right to stir up violent activities,” Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Ahmad Karim Kundi told an assembly session chaired by Speaker Babar Salim Swati on Monday.

Mr Kundi said PPP continued a peaceful struggle for democracy and people’s rights even after the assassination of its two top leaders.

He said that his party introduced the 18th Constitutional Amendment to stop the military’s direct intervention in politics.

Criticises govt for denying rights to local bodies

The PPP lawmaker said interference of institutions in politics could be stopped if political governments delivered the goods.

He said the treasury members talked a lot about the Constitution but they didn’t know that 5.5 million children in the province were out of school who were constitutionally required to be provided free education up to 16 years of age.

Mr Kundi said that Article 140 of the Constitution talked about the devolution of powers to the grassroots level.

He said around 40,000 local body members in the province were sitting idle but the government was unresponsive and didn’t grant them rights.

The opposition MPA said it was ironic that those who were supported and groomed by spymasters were currently advocating for the supremacy of the Constitution.

He accused the PTI activists of vandalising Nishan-i-Haider recipient Colonel Sher Khan’s statue in Mardan and Jinnah House in Lahore, and talking about the country’s disintegration, and insisted that some of the ruling party’s members wanted to derail democracy in the country.

Mr Kundi said that the treasury always talked about the Constitution but didn’t know that its Article 154 was about the Council of Common Interest to resolve issues among provinces and between provinces and the federation.

He criticised the PTI government for “not taking up the province’s issues, including net hydel profit payments, gas supply, and share in water, with the centre.

JUI-F member Riaz Khan said the law and order situation in Kurram tribal district was volatile due to the prolonged armed clashes between two tribes.

He said that the violence had so far claimed 46 lives and left 60 injured.

The lawmaker claimed that the tensions eased after he intervened, but it appeared to be temporary as another clash was looming in the district.

Member of the opposition JUI-F Rehana Ismail said that the PTI lawmakers had been irrationally speaking against national institutions and the federal government since Sept 10.

She wondered if all was well in KP.

The lawmaker asked the provincial government to focus on the resolution of the residents’ issues.

PML-N MPA Shehla Bano insisted that there was no militancy in the province since a military operation was successfully carried out against troublemakers a few years ago.

She accused the PTI government of “bringing back 40,000 militants and providing them with offices” in the province.

The opposition member said that the Punjab government was launching more and more development projects and facilities for residents, so why they would take part in the PTI’s unwarranted rallies.

She alleged that the PTI came to power in 2018 with the help and support of the establishment, but currently, it was criticising it.

Higher education minister Mena Khan said the opposition talked about the Constitution but never highlighted its articles on human rights.

“People’s representatives never hold meetings at night,” he said.

The minister said the constitutional amendments proposed by the federal government were meant to target PTI founder Imran Khan.

He said that the opposition should have condemned the barring of KP chief minister from participating in last week’s public meeting in Punjab.

Mr Khan claimed that the PTI government had never stopped any political party from staging rallies in the province.

He claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was toppled for refusing to recognise Israel.

The minister asked the opposition about its leadership’s stand on the Palestine issue.

The chair later adjourned the session until 3pm today (Tuesday).

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2024