PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister Shafi Jan on Saturday said the federal government’s “scripted and repeated” news conferences began with the mention of terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ended with threats of imposing the governor’s rule in the province.

He told a news conference here that the prime minister’s coordinator, Ikhtiar Wali, had wrongly associated PTI worker Zakir and his family with a banned organisation.

He invited Mr Zakir, who was also present, to talk to the media on the matter.

Mr Zakir said he used to work as a tailor in the Maidan area of Tirah Valley but shifted to Bara tehsil due to the ongoing military operation. He said he rode a bike to earn a living for his family.

The PTI worker said that Mr Wali had falsely associated him with the banned outfit, so Mr Wali should formally tender an apology.

He warned that in case anything bad happened to him, the prime minister’s coordinator would be held responsible.

“Ikhtiar Wali must apologise. We will ask him to explain,” he said.

Mr Zakir said as a PTI activist, he would not hesitate to offer any sacrifice, even his life, for incarcerated party leader and former prime minister, Imran Khan.

On the occasion, minister Jan said that legal action would be taken against Mr Wali. He wondered how the prime minister’s coordinator could associate Mr Zakir with a proscribed organisation. Mr Jan said if Mr Zakir was found to be innocent, Mr Wali would be held responsible.

He alleged that ministers were being picked up. He said that the reason Mr Zakir was brought before the media was that the PTI feared his disappearance and that messages would be recorded according to “their” will.

The minister said that Mr Wali had lost the polls against PTI candidate Mian Umar and obtained fourth position by securing only 5,000 votes against Mr Umar’s 40,000 votes. Mr Umar, who was also present, said, “If you want to know somebody’s worth, you need to check this at his native village.”

Mr Wali had alleged that there existed a nexus of terror, crime and narcotics between PTI and the banned organisations and that Mr Zakir was a cousin of a banned TTP commander.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026