Kundi ramps up efforts for political shift in K-P

ISLAMABAD:

With the tide seemingly turning after the verdict on reserved seats, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has swung into action, intensifying efforts to unseat the PTI-led government in the province.

The move is part of a larger plan greenlit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who had reportedly handed Kundi the reins to orchestrate a political shake-up in the province.

The reserved seats ruling has given the federal coalition a foot in the door of the K-P Assembly, fueling speculation that a no-confidence push may not be far off.

Within government ranks, there’s growing consensus that the PTI’s decade-long grip on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has run its course and that recent developments have further exposed its inability to ensure public safety.

Amid this backdrop, Governor Kundi met with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday to take stock of the evolving political and security landscape.

During the meeting, the governor briefed Bilawal on recent developments, including his engagement with lawmakers from coalition parties and the implications of the reserved seats allocation.

The deteriorating law and order situation, especially in the southern districts of K-P, featured prominently in their discussions.

Kundi apprised the PPP chairman of growing security concerns and the administrative hurdles being faced in the province.

He also provided a detailed account of the recent human tragedy in Swat, where flash floods claimed several lives, and criticised the provincial government’s response as grossly inadequate.

Referring to relief activities, the governor said, “As per your directions, I visited the affected families in Daska and Rustam, Mardan”.

Al Jazeera interview

Former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in an interview with Al Jazeera, warned that India’s increasingly aggressive anti-Pakistan narrative posed a threat not only to Pakistan but to India itself.

He argued that New Delhi was attempting to globalise a hostile ideology that risked destabilising the region. “This new ideology is dangerous for both the Pakistani and Indian people,” he said.

Rejecting accusations of Pakistan’s involvement in terror incidents across the border, Bilawal added, “Pakistan was not involved in the terrorist attacks in India”.

He said that the country was itself facing rising incidents of terrorism on a daily basis.

Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar

Bilawal also signalled Islamabad’s openness to consider extraditing Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, provided that India cooperates in facilitating judicial proceedings.

“As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things.”

According to Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), both LeT and JeM are banned organisations. Saeed is currently serving a 33-year sentence in Pakistan for terror financing, while Azhar has also been proscribed by authorities.

Bilawal elaborated that existing legal action against the two individuals has so far focused on charges filed within Pakistan’s jurisdiction.

However, he noted that prosecuting them on cross-border terrorism allegations remained a challenge due to India’s reluctance to follow through on basic procedural requirements.

“India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,” he explained.

“It’s important — to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be. If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern.”

The PPP leader also pushed back strongly against India’s posturing on cross-border terrorism, characterising it as a dangerous shift in regional norms.

“The new normal or the new abnormal that India would like to impose in the subcontinent — is that any terrorist attack within India means war with Pakistan,” Bilawal said.

“This does not serve the interests of Pakistan, and it does not serve the interests of India.”

He went on to warn that this escalatory logic placed the fate of nearly two billion people in the hands of non-state actors.

“Two nuclear-armed countries have got to the point that they have reduced the threshold for military conflict — to this level, which in effect means that we leave the destiny of 1.7 billion people not in the hands of the Pakistani or Indian government, but to nameless, faceless non-state actors.”

When asked specifically about the current status of Saeed and Azhar, Bilawal clarified: “It is factually not correct that Hafiz Saeed is a free man; he is in the custody of the Pakistani state.”

He added that Azhar’s whereabouts remain unclear but stressed that Islamabad believes he is outside the country. “It is our belief that he is in Afghanistan,” he said.

“If and when the Indian government shares information that he is on Pakistani soil, we will be more than happy to arrest him.”