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 a possible confrontation between the federal government and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was wrong, but said attempts were being made to escalate 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, emphasizing that real progress of Pakistan 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 extent 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 would not rest until terrorism was completely eliminated. Describing KP as an extremely important and strategic province, he said its people had made unprecedented sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
He said that after the war in Afghanistan, 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 emergence 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 taken that there would be no distinction between the good and the bad Taliban,” the Prime Minister told the participants.
He said terrorism was brought under control after the sacrifices of over 100,000 soldiers, officers and civilians, but due to some wrong decisions taken after 2018, the menace had re-emerged, harming national development.
Shehbaz vowed that terrorism would not defeat Pakistan, stressing that the country would continue its struggle until all terrorist elements were eliminated. He warned that the appeasement and ambiguity of the past had already cost the country dearly.
Responding to a question on Afghanistan, the prime minister said talks had been held with the Afghan interim government in Doha and elsewhere, but Pakistan’s concerns were not being taken seriously by the Kabul regime.
“Terrorism against Pakistan continued from Afghan soil, forcing Pakistan to make difficult decisions,” he said, adding that it was now up to the Afghan interim government to decide whether it wanted to live as a peaceful neighbor.
Talking again about Centre-KP relations, the Prime 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 fight terrorism, while additional resources were also provided to Balochistan.
He said Rs400 billion had been allocated for Balochistan’s ‘bloody highway’, the federal government had provided Rs50 billion for the solar tube well 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 Indian aggression on May 6, Pakistan put up a strong defense and shot down seven enemy warplanes, adding that under the leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the enemy was taught a lesson which it would always remember.
(WITH INPUT FROM THE APPLICATION)
