SWABI: Awami National Party provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Sunday criticised the federal and provincial governments for what he termed their failure to establish the writ of the state in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Addressing a protest organised by the Swabi Action Committee here, Mr Hussain said that “from Bajaur to Chaman and Waziristan, terrorists have established their writ,” while Pakhtuns and Baloch remained the worst victims of violence and unrest.

He expressed concern over incidents of kidnapping for ransom, enforced disappearances and drone strikes, which he said had become routine in the affected areas.

The ANP leader claimed that both the federal and provincial governments had failed to ensure public safety and restore peace.

Iftikhar insists Pakhtuns, Baloch worst victim of violence, unrest

He said his party had rendered sacrifices in the past to establish peace and strengthen the writ of the state in KP.

Mr Hussain said the ANP had secured provincial autonomy through the 18th Constitutional Amendment and ensured greater rights for smaller provinces. However, he alleged that “incompetent and non-serious people” were later brought into power, who, according to him, neither cared about the province’s resources nor its people.

Referring to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s natural resources, he said the province possessed abundant reserves of electricity, gas and oil, but its people continued to face prolonged power outages and expensive electricity.

He termed 12 to 16 hours of loadshedding in parts of the province as “unjust”.

The ANP leader reiterated that the people of resource-producing regions had the first right over those resources under the 18th Amendment, but alleged that the province was being denied its due share.

Meanwhile, the sit-in staged by the members of the Swabi Action Committee inside the Peshawar Electric Supply Company’s local office against unannounced electric loadshedding entered its seventh day on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at the Swabi Press Club, the action committee spokesperson Saleem Khan Advocate said that after consultation with all political parties and stakeholders, it had been decided that the sit-in inside the Pesco office would continue till the power cuts were done away with.

He added that locally generated electricity was being diverted to factories in Punjab and Sindh. He said that residents of Swabi were currently facing up to 18 hours of loadshedding daily.

Mr Khan claimed that due to the worsening law and order situation, more than 2,500 factories had shifted from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab during the past three years, severely affecting the provincial economy.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026