K-P rejects National Assembly’s Gandhara Corridor Bill

Adviser to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Tourism, Culture and Archaeology Zahid Chanzeb has rejected the Gandhara Corridor Bill and termed the move open interference in the affairs of the provincial government and an attack on provincial autonomy. The bill was tabled in the National Assembly recently by Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Sindh Ramesh Kumar.

In a statement, Zahid Chanzeb demanded that MNA Ramesh Kumar immediately withdraw his ‘controversial, unconstitutional and unethical’ bill.

The Adviser suggested that if the minority Sindh MNA was so eager to present such ‘controversial’ bills, he should focus on the archaeological sites of his own Sindh province where the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro are spread over a wide area.

Zahid Chanzeb said that after the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the affairs of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Museums and Archaeology fell purely under provincial jurisdiction and the province also had the power to legislate or suggest legislation in that regard.

Zahid Chanzeb also expressed regret that the same MNA had established the Gandhara Culture Authority through the Gandhara Culture Authority Act 2023 adopted during the previous caretaker set-up, a move he said was unacceptable as it constituted a serious blow to provincial autonomy.

The Adviser said 99 per cent of the Gandhara Civilization’s antiquities were located in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which were an important source of income for the province. Therefore, he asked, what revenue sources was the federal government leaving for K-P, including hydropower profits and oil and gas royalties? He said the Centre had taken away almost all of K-P’s sources of income.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2024.