KP governor says PTI leaders had incited violence on May 9

SWABI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi came down hard on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser for his recent statement wherein he had said that he would not apologize to anyone for May 9, 2023 violence.

He said that Asad Qaiser should not utter such words as his party (PTI) had instigated the people to create chaos and that fact was not hidden from anyone.

“Asad Qaiser said he would not even apologize to his father. I don’t want to make a political statement but I know how he had apologized earlier,” said the governor while reacting to the statement made by a former National Assembly speaker.

The governor was talking to mediapersons at the mausoleum of Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed (Nishan-e-Haider) and a hero of the Kargil War.

Recalling the May 9 violence of last year, he said the protesters were instigated by the PTI leaders and they created disturbance in the country. Faisal Karim Kundi added that PTI founder Imran Khan had already nominated members of the party core committee and tasks were assigned to them in case of his arrest. “Why was Asad Qaiser silent for a year? He should have led the party a year earlier,” he added. The governor said people had offered sacrifices in political parties but never resorted to violence.

Citing the example of Pakistan People’s Party founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he said even leaders were sent to gallows and later it was noted by the judiciary that he was not given a fair trial but even then his followers remained peaceful.

He said: “Asad Qaiser should be ashamed that his party’s people have done such a harmful act (May 9). They should apologize to the nation”.

The governor said when Asif Ali Zardari was elected for the first time as a president of the country, he had apologized to the people of Balochistan on behalf of the federation about their deprivations, and when he was elected for the second time to office, right now he has stayed in Balochistan for the last three days to resolve the various issues of the people.

About Imran Khan’s suggestion to constitute a commission about sin-in of 2014, he said the commission could not be constituted according to his desires.

Faisal Karim Kundi recalled that while addressing a gathering in the USA, Imran Khan, then a prime minister, had said that when political leaders go to jail in Pakistan, they feel that they have gone to a seven-star hotel, asking for air conditioning, dinner and lunch from outside and various other facilities. “Now, when he is in jail, he has converted it into a seven-star hotel and has a gym,” he added. The governor said the facilities given to Imran Khan in jail should be withdrawn if these were not being offered to other prisoners.

He said that no patriotic Pakistani can ever forget the fire that was set on May 9, 2023 and all those involved in this incident should be exemplary and punished.

Earlier, the governor paid glowing tributes to Captain Karnal Sher Khan who is known as a hero of the Kargil war. The governor laid the floral wreath on the mausoleum of Captain Karnal Sher Khan and offered fateha for the departed soul.

Swabi Deputy Commissioner Tariqullah, District Police Officer Haroon Rashid Khan and Captain Karnal Sher Khan’s elder brother Anwar Sher were also present on the occasion.