'A Policy Of Guns And Sticks Alone Will Not Work,' Shafi Jan Tells Mohsin Naqvi
Sajid Ali
Published October 04, 2026 | 02:39 PM
The negotiating committee was formed to resolve political issues, but the provincial government’s mandate rests with the chief minister; your intention is not to end terrorism but to eliminate PTI, says the provincial information minister.
PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Oct, 2026) Following the failure of talks between the Federal government and PTI and the start of the long march, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan said the government’s intention was not to end terrorism but only to crush PTI.
In a statement on social media platform X, he said the negotiating committee had been formed to resolve political issues and had a full mandate. Whatever decision it made would have been fully respected by the provincial government and the party.
However, he said, the mandate of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government rests with the chief minister, and the KP government’s policy could not deviate even slightly from Imran Khan’s ideology.
Targeting federal policies, Shafi Jan said:
"The blood of our innocent Pashtuns is not so cheap that, under your flawed policies, we would allow another 80,000 lives to be sacrificed.”
He said terrorism had been forcibly imposed on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and that those who themselves set fires could never put them out. A fundamental change in policy had now become inevitable, he added.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister stated that a policy based only on guns and sticks would no longer work. The same policy implemented for the past 22 years had deprived the people of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of peace, lives, property and livelihoods, and this would not be allowed to continue. Therefore, he said, a few self-proclaimed know-it-alls could no longer decide the future behind closed doors.