On Monday, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, proposed that instead of holding meetings in Islamabad, the federal government should meet with the KP parliament in terrorism hotzones located around the province.
Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, a nationwide counterterrorism effort that symbolizes the nation’s will to drive out extremism and terrorism, was approved by the federal government on Saturday.
All parties involved, including the provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, agreed to commence the campaign, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over a meeting of the Central Apex Committee on the National Action Plan (NAP) to that effect.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated in a press release that “Azm-i-Istehkam will integrate and synergize multiple lines of effort to combat the menaces of extremism and terrorism in a comprehensive and decisive manner.”
However, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif chastised the opposition for not backing the recently announced counterterrorism operation during a boisterous parliament session on Sunday. The opposition had insisted that Parliament be brought into confidence before any battle against militancy was undertaken.
“It is our demand [..] that if there is any operation — whether intelligence-based or full-fledged or in certain districts, villages, or tehsils — it is necessary to take this Parliament into confidence,” PTI MNA Gohar Khan had said, addressing the media outside Parliament House in Islamabad the same day.
He had stated that the opposition wished to speak on a point of order, requesting that the “military leadership, as has been done in the past, give an in-camera briefing and detail the situation,” while the National Assembly was in session.
But he said that members of his party were not given the opportunity to speak, so they staged a walkout in protest.
Speaking with reporters today, KP Governor Kundi stated that consultations between the federal government and all parties involved—including the provinces of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan—led to the beginning of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam. Kundi declared, “We stand with them and the federal government. They have all committed.”
He pointed out that KP Chief Minister and PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur stuck by the decision to begin the operation even though opposition members were not in favor of it. “He didn’t leave, and he didn’t make any disparaging remarks afterward,” Kundi claimed.
In reference to security and law and order discussions, Kundi stated, “I recommended that the members of the KP assembly be given a high level of confidence.” In addition, I proposed holding extra sessions with the federal cabinet and the apex committee to get information on law and order.
Moreover, rather than an air-conditioned room in Islamabad, these sessions ought to be held in areas where terrorism is rife. Hold meetings in Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, and other parts of KP, he stated.
Defense Minister: The government would give trust to all parties on Operation Azm-i-Istehkam.
On Sunday, Khawaja Asif, the minister of defense, announced that the government had chosen to give all stakeholders confidence on Operation Azm-i-Istehkam.
Khawaja Asif stated that the decision to carry out the operation was not finalized and that it will be discussed at Parliament’s in-camera session during an interview on the Dawn News program Doosra Rukh yesterday.
Asif stated that Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, took part in the discussion about the operation during the NAP meeting and that a decision was made by agreement.
“A consensus was reached after he presented the points he had prepared,” he said.
He explained that the decision made at the Saturday cabinet meeting will go “through the process,” thus it was not final.
He stated, “It will pass the cabinet and then be presented to the House, which will be briefed.”
“It’s not a new idea; operations have happened under PTI and Nawaz administrations before,” he stated, declining to clarify what the opposition’s objections were to the operation.
