PM Shehbaz addresses provincial apex committee meeting in Peshawar

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is addressing a meeting of the provincial apex committee to review the overall security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The premier arrived in Peshawar earlier in the day on his first visit to the province since the imposition of governor’s rule and the declaration of an emergency on Oct 11. Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, along with federal ministers and newly appointed provincial advisers, attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, PM Shehbaz reiterated that emergency and governor’s rule had to be imposed “under extreme compulsion”. Describing the province as “very beautiful”, the premier expressed his hope that the government “work hard day and night and speedily make it progress towards development and prosperity”.

“This is the province that is the first extremely strong wall of the homeland,” he noted. The prime minister went on to remark that the province was “shattered with wounds due to the circumstances created in the past several years”. He highlighted the poor law and order situation over the past six years, recalling that security forces and law enforcement agencies had made sacrifices to establish peace in KP. He added that “80,000 people were martyred and the [economy] suffered a loss of several hundred billion dollars. Only then, in 2018, was peace completely restored in this country”. PM Shehbaz regretted that “terrorists were summoned back here” after peace had been established, “washing down all sacrifices down the drain”. “I believe there can be no greater injustice to this country than this,” he added. “There can be no greater enmity with the country than not honouring and respecting such sacrifices, not holding them in esteem,” the premier…