K-P governor house opens its doors

Students from two girls colleges allowed in first phase

PESHAWAR: A select group of students from girls colleges in the city made history on Sunday after they became the first group from the general public which was allowed past the high-security walls of the governor house in Peshawar for a rare glimpse at the power echelons.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) governor house was opened following directions from Prime Minister Imran Khan during his maiden visit to the provincial capital on Friday.

Unlike the Punjab Governor House in Lahore and the Governor House in Murree — both of which were opened for the general public in the first fell swoop, the governor house in Peshawar had decided to make the process gradual owing to security considerations.

In the first phase, students of girls colleges were invited to visit the sprawling facility which is located off the Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Road.

Security measures were enhanced for the trip of students from the Frontier College for Women and the Kohat Degree College.

Owing to security concerns, students were not allowed to bring any edible items along with them.

Moreover, the media was also barred from covering the event with only the state television allowed in.

A large number of people, who had travelled to the governor house speculating that it too had been opened like the one in Lahore, were left disappointed when officials deputed at the security checkpoints outside turned them away.

While speaking to the state television, K-P Governor Shah Farman explained the choice of visitors allowed into the governor house.

“Female students are  normally ignored at various stages, so I decided to invite them on a priority basis,” Farman said, adding that from next Sunday, the governor house will be open to the general public.

He added that the entire exercise — which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had failed to conduct during its last tenure in the province despite electoral promises owing to security threats — had been undertaken to give the people a sense of ownership over the country’s assets.

Farman further disclosed that they were planning to build a separate park for women in the Governor House and set up a museum for the visiting public.

Following a request from the students, Farman allowed them inside the building itself rather than restricting them to the grounds.

The governor house is located in an area deemed to be a security ‘red zone’ of the provincial capital. The Chief Minister’s Secretariat is located just up the road from the governor house and across from the central police office and other key government facilities such as the Chief Secretary’s office and the civil secretariat and other sensitive installations.

At one point, the Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Road used to be littered with roadblocks and checkpoints and it was well nigh impossible to travel down it unless you were either a government or security official. But last December, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had directed to open the road for the public.

“Keep some barricades and posts on it, due to important buildings, but let it be open for the public,” the court had ordered.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2018.