ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the government had no option but to consider imposing an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), alleging that CM Sohail Afridi had been taking instructions from a person based in Afghanistan.
Recalling his own imprisonment, Asif said he had eaten jail food and did not even have a blanket during the winter.
Asif said the release of one individual had been made an issue, contrasting it with the cases of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, whose releases, he said, had not been made an issue by his side. He added that they had continued attending parliament.
The defence minister also questioned the circumstances surrounding Afridi’s tenure as KP chief minister, asking whom he had been receiving instructions from during his 13 to 14 months in office.
“The chief minister was taking instructions from someone sitting in Afghanistan,” Asif alleged.
He also raised questions about contracts for mines in KP, claiming that the person holding a mining contract was based in the United States.
Referring to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s remarks in the Senate a day earlier, Asif said the government had shown considerable flexibility during its efforts to address the situation.
