President Asif Ali Zardari imposed KP emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, declaring a state of emergency and suspending the provincial government led by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. The federal government said on Monday that Afridi and some of his cabinet had been taken into custody, while police accounts said hundreds of members of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were detained. Islamabad said the province, which borders Afghanistan, had failed to tackle terrorism, a charge PTI denies. The party said the measure was meant to stop supporters marching to the capital for Khan’s release, and The New Indian Express reported that 278 party members had been held.
Custody at the chief minister’s house
Minister Talal Chaudhry told Reuters: “Yes, I can confirm that the chief minister and some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody.” Preventive custody means a person is held before any trial. He said the detentions took place on Sunday at the chief minister’s house in Peshawar. People who have cases will be charged and tried, he said, and the others will be released. The confirmation was reported by Business Recorder and Reuters.
Witnesses and officials said the house and other important facilities nearby were cordoned off. Police, paramilitary forces and shipping containers were placed around the area.
Chaudhry did not give a total or a list of names. The New Indian Express figure of 278 stands beside other reports, citing police, that put the detentions in the hundreds, so the two accounts differ on the exact count. Khan aide Shaukat Yousafzai condemned the detentions and demanded their release. The same report said three sisters and hundreds of supporters had been detained ahead of the march, without giving the sisters’ names.
The march and the failed talks
Supporters had rallied for days in the province. The emergency followed a week later, as they prepared to march to Islamabad to demand Khan’s release and medical treatment. PTI said the emergency was imposed to keep that march from going ahead.
The government and the party held several rounds of talks after the march was called last month. A federal minister said the government was ready to accept all of PTI’s demands, including a go-ahead for the march, but had “asked for just one thing”: that the party publicly condemn terrorism and join the fight against it. He said they did not agree, and that this was why the talks broke down. The report said militant attacks in the province have increased in recent months, without giving a number.
Administration of the province
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Governor Faisal Karim Kundi would take charge. Under the KP emergency rule, the constitution allows the federal government to take over from provincial authorities. Afridi’s cabinet has been suspended, so that role now sits with the governor. Further detail is in Zaviya’s report on the chief minister and cabinet.
The same report noted that the party’s last large protest, two years ago, ended in deadly clashes with security forces, and that Khan’s arrest in 2023 was followed by nationwide riots in which supporters attacked military installations. Chaudhry said people with cases will be tried and the rest released. No timetable was given. Until a further order, the KP emergency rule is the basis on which the province is being administered.
