At long last, sanity seems to have prevailed as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has toned down his rhetoric by assuring his support to the PML(N)-led government for the sake of peace. After weeks of barbed exchanges between K-P and Centre, Afridi, who was appointed in midstream to steady the provincial ship last month, said he will attend national security forums to press K-P’s case. I will attend a meeting of the National Security Committee,” he said, adding that he would participate in any Centre-led forum to ‘speak up’ for provincial rights.
This is a welcome development and the Chief Minister deserves credit for preferring cooperation over confrontation, which benefits none. The change in policy augurs well for smooth relationship between Centre and the province, which was threatened due to sentimental approach adopted by the young CM before and immediately after assumption of his responsibilities as chief executive of the province. His hard hitting statements on different issues including political situation in the country and ongoing war on terrorism sent a negative message about prospects of working relationship between Centre and the province but now he declared in categorical terms that dialogue remained his foremost priority as every problem has a solution through negotiations. This change in thinking of the CM comes in the backdrop of goodwill gesture of Federal Government that accepted an invitation by PTI-led provincial government to attend an All Parties Conference (APC), which deliberated exhaustively on precarious security situation in the province and made some helpful recommendations. The province is facing a real threat and its difficulties and problems are compounding with passage of every day due to cross-border terrorism and frequent attacks on law-enforcing agencies. His remarks that strong institutions were key to a strong country, and that despite reservations over certain policies, the way forward lay in dialogue and improved policymaking are reflective of a positive change that augurs well for effective coordination between Centre and the province to take ongoing campaign against terror to its logical conclusion.
No doubt, the PTI has a popular base in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and a change in narrative will help secure necessary cooperation of local population in making anti-terror operation a success at the earliest. The Chief Minister himself has acknowledged that due to terrorism and economic pressure, poverty in tribal areas has worsened. In fact, this is also true of many other areas of KP that have the potential to develop rapidly if there was peace and security. In fact, federal government is striving hard to eliminate the menace of terrorism and personnel of national security institutions are offering many sacrifices for the purpose. There is also a legitimate impression that menace resurged in the province mainly because the provincial government did not initiate necessary legal, administrative and financial measures after terrorism-prone areas were previously cleared by the Pakistan Army. The incumbent CM has, however, declared his commitment to invest properly to enable provincial police force to deliver. Afridi said the K-P police have full capacity to confront terrorism, adding that approval had already been granted for procurement of modern equipment. Resources for Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Special Branch have been increased, while recruitment criteria in the merged districts had been relaxed to expand manpower.
It is also good that the CM has vowed to deliver a strong message to Kabul about the need to stop attacks inside Pakistan, adding if Afghanistan failed to cooperate then we will have justification to take whatever measures to safeguard our interests. Similar messages have been delivered on a number of occasions by civilian and military leadership of Pakistan but there is no positive response from the other side. Let us hope Afridi gets the desired response.
