Govt to stop PTI long march from entering Islamabad: Federal Info Minister

Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf would not be allowed to enter Islamabad on September 27, adding that the people had rejected the politics of violence and agitation.
Talking to journalists at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC), the minister said KP needed “public rule, not governor’s rule”, clarifying that the federation had no intention of imposing governor’s rule in the province.
Flanked by Peshawar Press Club President M. Riaz and General Secretary Alamgir Khan, Mr Tarar said the PTI government in KP had failed to openly condemn terrorism, which raised many questions.
He said if the provincial government believed that people had voted for it only to get a prisoner released, the province would go decades backward. He alleged that the PTI government had given a free hand to corrupt elements in forest cutting and mining.
“I have been in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last two days and I see no development work despite 13 years of PTI rule,” he said, adding that even for forensic requirements, KP was still dependent on Punjab.
The minister said public resources should be spent on the public, not on rallies and marches in Islamabad. He alleged that the PTI had used public money only for public meetings and marches.
He said under the National Action Plan, the federal government had provided Rs850 billion to the KP government under the NFC Award, but the provincial government did not even have its record.
Responding to a question on negotiations, Mr Tarar said the PTI chairman talked about dialogue, but there was confusion over who was the responsible person to talk to, as “he himself is a party worker”.
On law and order, he said Afghan soil was used in the Kohat tragedy and a response had been given, adding that operations against terrorists would continue and no one would be allowed to disturb peace.
“We will oppose every step that is against the public,” he said.
Mr Tarar said the chief minister of a province was issuing statements while lying on a charpoy in Punjab instead of serving his own province and ensuring governance.
He said security personnel and civilians martyred in terrorism were not even attended by the chief minister or provincial ministers at their funerals.
He also said the Radio Pakistan building burnt by PTI mobs on May 9 had been rebuilt and studios had been set up, inviting journalists to benefit from them.