Staging rallies ‘turning harder’ in K-P, Balochistan

Governor Ghulam Ali says security problems persist in both provinces

KARACHI:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali has said it was becoming harder to conduct political activities in parts of his province and Balochistan because of the prevailing security problems as the next general elections -- scheduled on February 8 -- approached closer.

“There is no doubt that the situation in some areas including Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat and Bannu is not favourable,” he told a private TV news channel during an interview when asked if the present security situation was unsuitable for political parties to stage rallies in K-P.

He added that a similar situation persisted in Balochistan.

Pakistan saw a relative lull in terrorist violence before the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021. Pakistan’s security establishment expected that after their ascendency, the Taliban would rein in the banned terrorist outfit, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP has been harboured by Afghan and Indian spy agencies on Afghanistan’s soil to destabilise Pakistan.

However, contrary to Pakistan’s expectations, the embarrassing exit of the US-led forces from Afghanistan emboldened the TTP and motivated the group to replicate the Afghan Taliban’s “stunning victory” over NATO. An Afghan Taliban-brokered peace tryst with the TTP soured quickly and the semblance of normalcy was shattered by an uptick in the terrorist outfit’s violence – particularly in K-P and Balochistan.

Pakistan has seen a 60% increase in terror incidents and a 500% rise in suicide bombings since the Taliban recaptured Kabul, claiming the lives of nearly 2,300 Pakistanis, according to official figures recently shared by caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

The K-P governor said in the interview that the general polls in the areas he had pointed out could be conducted but repeated that it was difficult to carry out political activities in these places.

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He added that the government and state institutions would make efforts to prevent any untoward incident because polls should be peaceful.

The governor emphasised that it was the government’s duty to take the voter to the polling station safe and sound.

“The provincial government and institutions are responsible for sitting together and chalking out a plan for the way forward,” the K-P governor noted.

He continued that Pakistan should quickly move towards the elections while keeping the country’s political and economic conditions in view.

Governor Ghulam Ali said some terrorist attacks had taken place recently and soldiers were embracing martyrdom almost every day.

However, he maintained that a major incident had not taken place yet.

The governor also refuted the PTI’s claims about the lack of a level playing field, adding that the party had recently staged a number of rallies in K-P.

He added that it did not benefit anyone to make the electoral process “suspicious”.