ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has claimed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had said he could not support the fight against terrorism because he could not bear the political cost.
Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, Mohsin Naqvi said dozens of terrorism incidents had taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the federal government had made repeated efforts to engage with the provincial government.
He said an Apex Committee meeting was held in Peshawar in February this year, adding that the federal government had faced difficulties in getting the meeting convened. According to the interior minister, the meeting was intended to convey a message that terrorism would be fought collectively.
Naqvi urged lawmakers to examine the press release issued after the meeting to see what had been stated.
Last funeral that Sohail Afridi attended
The interior minister said security personnel were martyred on the day of the Apex Committee meeting. He claimed that he had requested the chief minister to attend their funeral prayers and accompanied him to the gathering.
Naqvi said that was the last time Sohail Afridi attended the funeral prayers of a martyred security personnel.
Mohsin Naqvi refers to ARY News programme
Referring to ARY News’ programme Khabar, the interior minister said host Muhammad Malick repeatedly asked Shafi Jan to condemn terrorists, but he was unwilling to do so.
Naqvi said the host even asked Shafi Jan to condemn two or three named terrorists, but he still did not agree to condemn them.
Federal government wanted KP leadership to take the lead
Naqvi said a plan had been prepared to empower police in five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He claimed the federal government had asked Sohail Afridi to take the lead in the fight against terrorism, but the chief minister was unwilling to do so.
He alleged that whenever security personnel were martyred, Afridi would deliver speeches against state institutions in the same district the following day.
“The people sitting in KP forced us to take these steps,” Naqvi said, referring to the imposition of Governor’s Rule and an emergency in the province.
The interior minister further claimed that the government had accepted all of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s demands during negotiations and had been willing to provide everything sought by the party.
However, he alleged that Sohail Afridi had never accompanied the military on an operation. According to Naqvi, the chief minister had said he could not bear the political consequences of such participation and feared it would damage his political standing.