By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, forcefully rejected accusations from the military that they were facilitating terrorism in the restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, insisting on Thursday that the party had always condemned attacks and urged a national consensus to combat the threat without political rancor.
The denial came during a news conference in the capital, where the party’s chairman, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by senior figures Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser, described the claims as baseless and divisive at a time when the country needs unity against a resurgent wave of violence. “The PTI’s stance has always been that terrorism is a menace and it is a national responsibility to eliminate it from its roots,” Khan said. “Our stance has always been that there should be no politics on terrorism. In fact, we need a singular stance and narrative on terrorism.”
The remarks followed a blistering briefing two days earlier by the military’s chief spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who blamed a “politically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — where the PTI holds power — for a surge in attacks. The province accounted for nearly 71 percent of all terrorist incidents in 2025, the general said, accusing the party of resisting counterterrorism efforts and building false narratives in legislative assemblies.
General Chaudhry, referring obliquely to the PTI’s opposition to military operations against militants, questioned alternative. “What should be done then instead and whether the TTP chief should be made chief minister of the province with allegiance pledged to him.” He said counterterrorism required firm state action, not political ambiguity, and dismissed the idea of seeking assurances from groups accused of harboring terrorists.
Khan, a lawyer who has led the PTI since the imprisonment of its founder, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, pushed back against the notion that his party was uncooperative. “To say that the PTI and its government in KP is uncooperative is inappropriate and far from the truth,” he said, pointing to a grand jirga, or tribal assembly, convened in the province in October that brought together political parties, scholars and intellectuals.That gathering, he noted, unanimously concluded that the current counterterrorism policy was flawed.
The PTI leaders highlighted their provincial government’s investments in security, including Rs40 billion spent to bolster the police force’s capacity. “The top priority of the PTI and its government in KP was protecting the life and property of its people,” Khan said. “And there can be no compromise on this, nor has there been.”
They condemned terrorism in stark terms, stressing its indiscriminate nature. “Terrorists do not have a religion, nationality or boundaries,” Khan said. “They do not differ between men and women. They attack our mosques, Eidgahs and we condemn each and every attack.”
Raja, addressing the military’s insinuations directly, called the allegations “unfortunate” and insisted that “Imran and PTI were not terrorist sympathisers.” “Only a fool would sympathise with terrorists.” The party, Raja said, stood firmly with the Pakistani people and opposed policies that led to the displacement or deaths of innocents. “We stand with the people of Pakistan and can not accept the displacement and martyrdom of innocent people,” he said. “Sit with us and prepare a plan of action.”
He argued that the PTI, as the dominant force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was uniquely positioned to mend frayed ties between residents and state institutions. “PTI can bring people and institutions together for a national purpose,” Raja said, warning that isolating the party would only destabilize the region further. “Until the gap is not addressed, the future will remain unstable.”
Qaiser, a former speaker of the National Assembly, calls for policy reform, noting a recent rise in attacks despite ongoing efforts. “If your policy has consistently failed, then it is time that you should review it, revisit it and adopt a policy which can help eliminate the issue.” He criticised the federal government for withholding development funds from the province, saying such moves “serves to foster bitterness.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
