PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has assured families displaced from Tirah that the provincial government will stand firmly by their side, declaring that tribal communities have sacrificed greatly for the country and must not be abandoned.
Speaking at a jirga of elders and notables from Khyber district in Peshawar, Afridi said tribal people have long faced exclusion from the national mainstream. “The mindset formed against us for 75 years does not recognise our existence,” he remarked, adding that negative propaganda was launched against him soon after his election but public support enabled him to overcome it.
Afridi pledged to empower his people through education rather than conflict. “I have promised my people to give them the pen instead of the gun. We will stand in the front line for the defence of the country and will not hesitate to make any sacrifice. When my nation is in a difficult time, I stand with them like a rock,” he said.
The chief minister credited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan with raising political awareness, saying he helped citizens distinguish between truth and hypocrisy. Afridi added that the nation was united in supporting those displaced from Tirah.
He stressed that military operations were not a sustainable solution, noting that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s political parties and civil society shared this view. “We want the elimination of terrorism. We are peace-loving people and want the restoration of peace. After 22 major and 14,000 small operations, what guarantee is there now that peace can be established?” he asked.
Afridi criticised decisions made without provincial consultation, alleging that the Tirah operation was imposed through force and coercion. “Had we been consulted, the nation would have been taken into confidence and consensus would have been built,” he said.
During the jirga, elders highlighted the hardships faced by displaced families and offered suggestions for restoring peace and ensuring dignified resettlement. Afridi directed officials to provide maximum facilities to those affected.
Earlier, in a message on X, the chief minister condemned the Tirah operation as a product of “closed-door decisions” serving political interests rather than eliminating terrorism. “Tirah is my home. Its people are my own,” he wrote, calling the displacement a failed attempt to weaken his stance on the issue.
