Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrives in Davos to attend the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Photo: APP
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday made it clear that the impression of any clash between the federal government and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was incorrect, but said attempts had been made to aggravate the situation through lies and propaganda.
Addressing KP participants at a national workshop, Shehbaz delivered a wide-ranging speech focusing on terrorism, federal-provincial relations and national development, and emphasized that Pakistan’s real progress was impossible unless all four provinces moved forward together.
He said lies and propaganda on social media were poisoning the minds of young people, to the point that even the great sacrifices of martyrs were being insulted, echoing the language of the enemy across the border.
Reiterating the State’s resolve, Shehbaz said the nation will not rest until terrorism is completely eliminated. Describing KP as an extremely important and strategic province, he said its people had made unparalleled sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
He said that after the Afghanistan war, millions of Afghan refugees were welcomed by the people of KP out of a sense of duty. However, he added, this also led to the rise of Kalashnikov culture and terrorism in the country, resulting in the martyrdom of thousands of innocent civilians.
“After the APS [Army Public School] tragedy [in December 2014]”A unanimous decision was made that there would be no distinction between good and bad Taliban,” the Prime Minister told the participants.
He said terrorism was controlled after the sacrifices of more than 100,000 soldiers, officers and civilians, but due to certain wrong decisions taken after 2018, the menace resurfaced, damaging national development.
Shehbaz vowed that terrorism will not be allowed to defeat Pakistan and emphasized that the nation will continue its fight until all terrorist elements are eliminated. He warned that appeasement and ambiguity in the past had already cost the country dearly.
Responding to a question on Afghanistan, the prime minister said talks were held with the Afghan interim government in Doha and elsewhere, but the regime in Kabul did not take Pakistan’s concerns seriously.
“Terrorism against Pakistan continued from Afghan soil, forcing Pakistan to make difficult decisions,” he said, adding that it is now up to the interim Afghan government to decide whether it wants to live as a peaceful neighbor.
Referring again to the relations between the Center and the KP, the chief minister said that in the last 15 years, around Rs 800 billion had been provided to the province to combat terrorism, but the level of development seen in other provinces was not visible there.
He recalled that under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award 2010, Punjab gave 1% of its share to KP to help it tackle terrorism, while additional resources were also provided for Balochistan.
He said Rs 400 billion had been allocated for the Balochistan “bloody highway”, the federal government had provided Rs 50 billion for the solar tubewell project for farmers and a network of Danish schools was being established in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The prime minister said that in response to India’s aggression on May 6, Pakistan mounted a strong defense and shot down seven enemy fighter jets, adding that under the leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the enemy was taught a lesson that it will always remember.
(WITH INPUT FROM THE APP)
