• Says restrictions violate Article 151 and threaten food security in the province
• Asks Khawaja Asif to restore domestic and international flights from Peshawar

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pa­­khtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday sought Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s intervention against what he called “unconstitutional restrictions” on wheat movement to the province and urged the restoration of daily Peshawar–Karachi flights.

The development came as the Punjab government faced criticism from the KP and Sindh governments for restricting the flow of wheat to the two provinces. However, a day earlier, Punjab Inform­ation Minis­ter Azma Bokhari had insisted that there was no ban on the inter-provincial movement of wheat, terming the “ongoing propaganda in this regard baseless and contrary to facts”.

In a post on social media platform X, the KP governor said he had written to the premier, urging his “im­­­mediate intervention to lift the unconstitutional re­­s­­trictions” on the inter-pr­­o­vincial movement of wheat to the province. “Such limitations not only affect the province’s food security but also go against the spirit of cooperative fed­­eralism en­­shrined in our Constitu­tion,” he stated.

The governor expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved promptly “under the prime minister’s leadership”. The letter, which Mr Kundi also posted on X, described the restrictions a “serious concern”, pointing out that KP was a “wheat-deficient province and depends substantially on inter-provincial inflows to meet its essential food requirements”.

It said the restrictions violated Article 151 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of trade, commerce, and intercou­rse among the provinces.

He further observed that these limitations were “unintentionally encouraging illegal and informal transportation of wheat through alternate routes,” leading to “uncontrollable supply distortions in the open market”.

Over the past several weeks, wheat and flour prices have surged, pushing the price of bread up to Rs30 from Rs20.

Restoration of flights

Separately, the KP governor wrote to Defence Mi­­nister Khawaja Asif, requ­e­sting the restoration of dai­ly flights between Pesha­war and Karachi as well as international flights “particularly to the Gulf and Middle Eastern countries.”

“The suspension of these international flights has caused considerable hardship for overseas Pakistanis, entrepreneurs, and their families,” Mr Kundi said in a later post on X, noting that a “large expatriate population” from KP is employed in the Middle East.

He further stated that a “single private airline is operating with absolute monopoly” on the Peshawar–Karachi route, inconveniencing passengers and traders due to “exorbitant fares and limited seat availability.”

The governor requested the defence minister to issue directions for the restoration of flight services.

Manzoor Ali in Peshawar also contributed to this report.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025