Workers and local leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz held street rallies on Monday to celebrate governor's rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Processions passed through Haripur and Battagram, while in Lower Dir a former candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party led supporters through Timergara Bazaar. In Swabi, large boards appeared the same day calling the change Youm-i-Nijat, a phrase used for a day of deliverance, though no one has confirmed who put them up.
Rallies from Haripur to Timergara
In Haripur, National Assembly member Dr Shaista Jadoon, former provincial minister Qazi Mohammad Asad Khan and district president Sahibzada Hamid Shah led the procession. It began at Chowk Sheranwala Gate and ended at Siddique-i-Akbar Chowk. The PML-N leaders said people in the province were fed up with PTI, which they described as the party that had taken power on a promise of change.
In Battagram, party workers gathered at Khatm-i-Nabuwwat Chowk in the main bazaar and again in Thakot Bazaar. District president Mahajareen Khan, former provincial assembly member Nawabzada Wali Mohammad Khan and Adil Nawaz Khan joined other local leaders. Marchers carried placards and banners backing the federal government and criticising PTI.
In Timergara, Advocate Alamzeb, a former PPP candidate for the National Assembly, led the rally. Participants handed out sweets and chanted slogans against PTI. He told journalists the step was not something to celebrate, but the result of a worsening situation in the province.
Claims about governance and security
Dr Shaista told the Haripur rally that protests came so often they left people short of flour. She also said Pakistani forces had made sacrifices against terrorism, and alleged that PTI had supported terrorists.
Qazi Mohammad Asad Khan described PTI's three consecutive tenures as the worst governance the province had seen, citing a financial decline and an increase in loans. He said an advisory council headed by Governor Faisal Karim Kundi would provide relief to people and help restore peace. Governor's rule, in plain terms, means the governor administers the province while an emergency is in force.
Mahajareen Khan said the PTI provincial government had badly failed to deliver and that terrorism had resurfaced during its tenure. He said it was necessary to bring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa level with other provinces on development and peace. Nawabzada Wali Mohammad Khan said PTI was not serious about governance. He said those opposing the federal government's decision should consider what compelled it to impose an emergency and place the province under the governor, and that the decision should have come earlier.
Advocate Alamzeb said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had to return to peace, transparency and democracy after what he called 13 years of poor governance. He said 680 terrorist attacks had been reported in the province from January to September this year.
Billboards in Swabi
On Monday, large billboards went up in Swabi with the words Youm-i-Nijat. Referring to the PTI period, the boards said that from the 2013 general election to the proclamation of governor's rule and the emergency, the party had done nothing for people, so its departure was a day of deliverance. It was not immediately known who installed them. Officials of the tehsil municipal administration, the local civic office, did not answer a call asking who had paid.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa mein emergency lag gayi hai aur governor ab soobe ka intezam dekh rahe hain. PML-N ke workers ne Haripur aur Battagram mein, aur PPP ke ek purane umeedwar ne Timergara mein, is faisle ke haq mein rallies nikalin. Netaon ka kehna tha ke PTI ke daur mein logon ko atta ki kami aur terrorism ka samna raha. Swabi mein Youm-i-Nijat ke board lage, lekin yeh confirm nahi hua ke unhein kis ne lagaya ya paisay kis ne diye.
