Peshawar:
The chief minister of Khyber -Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, drew attention Wednesday with contradictory statements concerning military operations – first blaming his “failure” on “eroded confidence between the army and the people”, and later describing the security forces as “guests of the country who must be protected against damage”.
“Our forces are our guests, and we will never tolerate any harm to come to them. Our ancestors have taught us to protect our guests, and our security forces have given their lives for the country,” he said in a video message after a meeting of the APEX Committee on Wednesday.
The chief minister called for a united effort of the government, soldiers, institutions and the public to restore peace, stressing that terrorism remains the greatest obstacle to peace in the province.
“The founder of PTI (Imran Khan) and our vision was to raise the areas that have been deprived of development. For development, peace is essential, but unfortunately, peace has not been achieved here,” he added.
“The enemy countries of Pakistan never want peace here,” said Gandapur, adding: “The roots of terrorism in Pakistan are linked to these hostile nations, and we have to fight terrorism together.”
He stressed the importance of exposing people who try to create mistrust between the public, the government and the security forces. “When the public is not with us, this war cannot be won. People’s support is crucial,” he added.
Gandapur also underlined the need to identify and eliminate terrorist facilitators. “Facilitating terrorists is neither in our religion nor authorized by law,” he said.
“Terrorists hide among the populations and when they target the forces, they also endanger civilians. We cannot allow terrorists to stay in these regions,” added the CM.
The chief minister also announced that Jirgas would start from August 2 to engage local communities in efforts to eliminate terrorism, aimed at avoiding military operations that can cause trips. He assured that all efforts would be made to protect civilians during anti -terrorist actions.
Gandapur has also responded to concerns about the province of mineral resources, saying: “These resources belong to the province. No one asked for control over them, and we will allow no one to take control.”
He concluded by calling the inhabitants of KP to recognize those who disseminate harmful stories and underlined the need for unity in the fight against terrorism. “We will win this war together if we are united,” he said.
Earlier, an emergency meeting on the situation of the law and the order was held under the chairmanship of the chief minister. The meeting brought together members of the PTI parliamentary party, the chief secretary, the inspector general of the police, the additional chief secretary and other officials concerned.
During the meeting, the situation of the law and the order was examined in the light of the Bajaur incident, and the chief minister was informed by the authorities concerned about the last developments.
After the meeting, the chief minister published a video declaration, declaring that the provincial government is respected by the decisions taken at the recent conference on peace and security of all parties. He said the government is preparing to implement these decisions.
Calling the Bajaur incident a tragic event, he declared that military operations against terrorism cause civilian victims, which has a negative impact on public confidence. “These types of incidents erod the public’s confidence in the army, and without public confidence, we cannot win the war against terrorism,” he said.
The chief minister said that the martyred security personnel in the war against terrorism was “our children as well” and are as expensive as the civilians in the province. He said the erroneous policies prevented the appropriate recognition of these sacrifices and called for a revision of these policies.
He said that a calendar to hold jirgas in the merged districts had been issued. Local level jirgas will be held over the next ten days, followed by a large Jirga. Consultations with former premises, elected representatives and stakeholders will help formulate a future development and a story.
Gandapur said that the JIRGAS recommendations are presented to security officials for a possible examination of the current policy. He reiterated that the fight against terrorism should be based on public confidence.
He also expressed reservations concerning the use of “action for the benefit of civil power”, and said that a session of the Assembly had been called from August 1 to debate this issue, among others, and determine if it serves its planned objective.
“Our clear message is that we are holding with the people and that we are going on each length,” said the chief minister, adding: “It is our province, our land. Bad decisions should not be imposed on us without consultation.”
He assured the public that the party of Imran Khan, his workers and the provincial government stand with them. “We will not rest until their problems is resolved,” he added.
Gandapur also declared that he had asked all the sub-administrators not to impose the curfew or article 144 without prior approval of the original service.
A meeting chaired by the chief minister was also held on the situation of the law and the order in Bajaur. Condolences and sympathies have been expressed for families of civilians and martyred security personnel in the incident.
The chief minister announced 10 million compensation rupees for the families of each martyred civil and security manager, and 2.5 million rupees each for injured civilians and security staff.
