DND Report
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur held a press conference on July 29 and made very controversial remarks rather irresponsible comments on the structural relationship between the Federation and Federating Unit (KP Province). He also tried to make the ongoing war on terrorism controversial.
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For the past few years, there has been continuous political disappointment for PTI, and as it has failed to pitch the public against state institutions after the May 9, 2023, events. Now it has announced an August 5 protest, but that also appeared to be another failure for the party that is already divided into several factions. This factionalism is putting CM Gandapur under tremendous pressure, who is facing strong opposition within the party as well, and there are allegations against him for financial corruption and disappointing governance. Public surveys and opinions are showing that Chief Minister Gandapur is the most unsuccessful Chief Minister of KP in the last 20 years. The usage of irresponsible talk, challenging the state of Pakistan, and issuing provocative statements against the state of Pakistan can serve to divert attention from his failed governance, so that all attention remains on the Pakistan Army and the provincial government continues its bad governance. It cannot be ignored that after the failure of Indian Operation Sindoor, PTI has acted on its old agenda of creating mistrust among the people and the Army for nullifying the dividend Pakistan Army had gained by defeating its arch-rival India.
PTI has been trying since 2022 to create a wedge between the people and the army, but it has completely failed because the relationship between the army and the people is unbreakable and has become even stronger after the Indian defeat. Therefore, Gandapur is pitching a false narrative that trust between the army and the people is eroding, which has actually been consolidated in the last three months.
What Gandapur has said that the army should remain on the border is absolutely correct. The army is sealing the Pak-Afghan border in such a way that there will be no illegal trade, no smuggling of any kind, and no terrorists entering Pakistan from Afghanistan. This situation does not suit many politicians of KP who are getting their share from smuggling worth over 3,400 billion a year, and a soft border suits them because that helps with smuggling and cross-border terrorism.
As far as the issue of reviewing Article 245 is concerned, it is right. The army has already been saying that public order is the job of the provincial government, and the army’s presence in certain areas of KP is under Article 245 at the demand of the provincial government. The situation on the ground is that KP had not established a strong Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), and the Police being used for political purposes has weakened over the last decade. When there is no CTD to fight back terrorists, and the Police are neither equipped properly nor have the will to fight dreadful terrorists, then who will fight with them if the Army is withdrawn from the troubled areas? Can the province leave itself at the mercy of the terrorists?
Security institutions of Pakistan indicate that terrorism is increasing in Pakistan, particularly in KP, in the post-Pahalgam scenario, because India is extensively using its proxies to put pressure on security forces in KP and Balochistan, and security agencies have credible intelligence reports that Fitna-al-Khawarij (TTP) and Fitna-al Hindustan are collaborating for terror attacks in Pakistan. South Asia Terrorism Portal claims that 596 deaths took place in terrorism related attacks in Pakistan till July 29, 2025, from January 1, 2025.
