Atta Tarar flays double standards and hypocrisy in PTI’s policy

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar says PTI’s lame old excuse that all parties should have been consulted has outlived its life in the past three years.

He said this in a post on X while responding to PTI leader Salman Akram Raja’s statement on the platform.

The Minister said the Federal Government did exactly that but the PTI never responded to government proposals.

He said it is only now, when the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government is politically weak, PTI has started responding to the Federal Government’s calls for a joint mechanism to fight terrorism, that too only as a strategy to save its political capital in the province. He said their spokesperson is denying it and is giving justifications in favour of terrorists.

Attaullah Tarar said double standards and hypocrisy seem to be PTI’s policy. He said it is claimed that PTI-led KP government has been taking steps to fight terrorism and is serious in this matter, while on the contrary, party’s narrative on terrorism is in favour of terrorists. He said the KP Government’s policy only encourages and supports spread of terrorism in the province.

The Minister questioned why the KP Government neither attends Federal Apex Committee meetings nor holds its own Apex Committee meetings to review terrorism, as other provinces do.

He further questioned why the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister and his cabinet do not condemn the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan for sponsoring terrorism inside Pakistan, including cross-border attacks on posts and drone attacks.

He said the KP Government has never shown outright support for the valiant Armed Forces and police, who have laid down thousands of lives fighting terrorism in the province.

He also questioned why the provincial government has not implemented the National Action Plan, under which clear action is required against the illegal spectrum, illegal Afghan immigrants, and measures for enhancing the capacity of the Police and Counter-Terrorism Department.

Attaullah Tarar asked Salman Akram Raja why PTI leaders do not attend the funerals of martyrs or visit security forces and police posts to show their support for them. How many times have you visited the former FATA areas and taken an interest in their governance and development issues?

The Minister also questioned the silence of the PTI when Afghan Taliban regime sends “drones and tashkeels” in support of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He asked how many times they have stood shoulder to shoulder with the valiant FC soldiers standing guard on Pak-Afghan Border against these terrorists. He urged the PTI leader to give answers to these questions before ranting confusion and useless rhetoric only.

Attaullah Tarar said it is an old strategy of PTI that when under pressure, they start talking of consultations and joint actions but on ground they do the exact opposite.

He said the non-implementation of the National Action Plan by the KP government has not only allowed terrorism to thrive in the province but has also severely damaged its economy for which only PTI is responsible.

The Minister called upon the PTI to stop selling this false narrative of collective consultations, jirgas or any other method as this means nothing on ground other than delaying tactics.

He made it clear that this time the State will not allow PTI to embroil and confuse people by its old rhetoric and verbosity that has already brought Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the brink of collapse.