PESHAWAR: Lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday condemned the abduction and murder of a woman doctor from Abbottabad’s district headquarters hospital and demanded exemplary punishment for culprits.

During the sitting presided over by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, the MPAs said that the Abbottabad incident, first of its kind in the district, spread panic in the entire medical community.

Treasury lawmaker Iftikhar Jadoon Khan said that Dr Warda’s abduction and killing had raised serious questions about the performance of law-enforcement agencies in the district, so the chair should direct the provincial police chief to ensure the immediate launch of an inquiry into the incident.

Opposition member Amna Sardar complained that Dr Warda was picked up from duty before being killed and dumped.

Speaker says he’ll call DIG for briefing on the matter

Treasury MPA Munir Hussain demanded a special inquiry into the incident to bring culprits to justice.

He said that most of the time, people behind such heinous crimes were arrested but loopholes in the investigation helped them get off scot-free.

“Police investigations are always full of lacunas and give a chance to criminals to escape punishment,” he said.

The speaker observed that he had spoken to the deputy inspector general of police for Hazara Division and learned about the arrest of three accused.

He said he would call the DIG for a briefing on the matter.

“I’m satisfied with the police investigation carried out so far. Any negligence in this case will never be tolerated,” he declared.

On a calling attention notice, minority lawmaker Askar Parvez claimed that a graveyard of the Parsi minority in Peshawar cantonment area had been converted into a parking space.

He requested the chair to intervene for corrective measures.

Mr Parvez also requested the government to hold talks with the federal government for restoring a 400-year-old Hindu temple in Gor Gathri area and Gurdwara Bhai Jogan Singh in the provincial capital.

Law minister Aftab Alam Afridi tabled the KP Endowment Fund Kalasha Community Bill, 2025, which was referred by the chair to the relevant house committee for deliberations and recommendations.

The speaker observed that according to the rules of business, any new bill would be sent to the relevant house committee for discussion.

Mr Afridi said that the “indigenous committee” didn’t want the bill’s approval to be delayed because it was regarding a particular community.

PPP member Ahmad Karim Kundi said the bill should be sent to the house’s committee concerned in line with the rules.

He said the house should rest assured that the committee won’t sit on thereport.

MPA Fatihul Mulk Nasir from Chitral informed the house that in case someone from the Kalasha community died, all other members, totaling around 4,500, were invited and fed. He said that the basic objective of the endowment fund was to facilitate the community.

The chair later referred the bill to the relevant standing committee with directions to send back the bill with recommendations within 10 days.

Minister Afridi also tabled the KP Right to Public Services Amendment Bill, 2025, which was referred by the chair to the relevant house committee saying the bill should be returned in 20 days at maximum.

Housing minister Dr Amjad Ali said that the house of treasury member Anwar Zebin Bajaur tribal district came under a drone attack, which left one of his employees injured.

He said that the military personnel were deployed in the region with an offensive against militants under way.

Dr Ali said a peace Jirga was held in the house but such attacks continued.

Mr Ali condemned the drone strike and requested the chair to refer the matter to the relevant house committee.

He also said that the chief minister had sought a report from the provincial police chief about the incident but it had yet to be shared.

The minister said that deliberate attempts were being made to create a law and order situation in the province to pave the way for some “unconstitutional steps and roll back democracy.”

ANP member Arbab Usman said that it was not an isolated incident, so the matter should be referred to the panel concerned for recommendations. He said that a mechanism should be devised to bind the relevant officials to submit a report about the incident.

The chair observed that a house special committee on security had already been formed and that there was no need to send the issue to any other committee.

He said that the issue would be sent to the same committee and all concerned, including the police chief and head of the counter-terrorism department of police, would be called for a briefing.

“KP residents have given a mandate to their elected representatives to ensure peace. We will sit with representatives of the institutions and seek their priorities and make a decision,” the chair said.

ANP member Arbab Usman said a resolution regarding the creation of the Hazara province was passed by the house.

He wondered who would benefit from the move.

“The resolution should be tabled here again,” he said.

The lawmaker expressed reservations about the passage of the resolution and questioned its “basic objective.”

“Anything that has gone through the house has been done and therefore, it should not be discussed again,” the chair observed.

PML-N member Shahjahan said that several resolutions regarding Hazara province were passed by the house in the past.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2025