Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari on Friday questioned the use of a charter plane by the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that the provincial government should disclose the cost and details of the journey.
In a statement she said the KP chief minister was running a ‘street movement’ while traveling on a charter plane and questioned where those YouTubers had gone who had previously criticised Punjab chief minister over the use of aircraft.
Azma Bokhari asked how much the charter flight would cost the people of KP, pointing out that the province was facing financial difficulties, including problems in paying salaries and purchasing wheat. She questioned whether the “middle-class Chief Minister” would bear the cost of the charter plane from his own pocket. She said YouTubers were also accompanying the KP Chief Minister on the charter plane, adding that those who had criticised Punjab’s aircraft were now witnessing their own Chief Minister travelling through a chartered flight.
The minister said the KP government should make public the list of passengers who travelled on the charter plane, payment details and flight tracking data. She said the flight number and boarding card being shown referred to a flight operating from Islamabad to Bahawalpur, whereas the aircraft used by the KP Chief Minister travelled to Rahim Yar Khan, indicating that it was a charter flight. Azma Bokhari said those who committed wrongdoing themselves often blamed others, adding that their leader had spent his political life chanting “thief, thief” against others but ultimately faced similar accusations himself.
“No more verbal claims—‘Raseedan Kaddo Raseedan’,” she said, calling for documentary evidence and complete transparency regarding the charter flight.
