STAFF REPORTER
PESHAWAR : The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session began nearly three hours late under the chairmanship of Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, with discussions focusing on the province’s wheat situation, child protection, prevention of sexual violence and important political and public issues. During the session, the Speaker strongly reacted to remarks attributed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz concerning Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces, saying that while political differences and criticism of performance were acceptable, targeting anyone’s character or dignity was contrary to Pashtun traditions and Islamic teachings.
At the outset, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati announced an awareness session on cancer-prevention vaccination, scheduled for September 15 at the Assembly’s Jirga Hall. He urged all members of the provincial assembly to ensure their participation, saying that vaccines for cancer prevention had been introduced and that raising public awareness about them was extremely important. He said lawmakers should participate in the awareness programme so that they could play an effective role in protecting the public from the disease.
The issue of Maryam Nawaz’s remarks also generated a strong reaction from the Speaker. Babar Saleem Swati said that, whether deliberately or otherwise, the Punjab chief minister had made remarks about other provinces that had hurt the sentiments of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. He said political leaders could criticize one another’s performance, policies and political decisions, and political debate could even take place over Maryam Nawaz’s alleged alignment with the military establishment, but discussing anyone’s character was inappropriate.
The Speaker said Pakistan was not under foreign domination and that the principle that “everything is fair in love and war” was not acceptable. According to him, the proper course of conduct was one consistent with the teachings of Allah Almighty and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He said neither religion nor Pashtun traditions permitted attacks on anyone’s character.
Babar Saleem Swati said Maryam Nawaz was a respected person in his view, adding that she was married into a family from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and that her husband, Captain Safdar, belonged to a respectable family. He said he wanted to convey to Maryam Nawaz that she should reconsider her words and restate her controversial remarks in a manner that would not hurt the sentiments of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Speaker also indicated that he would raise the matter with the Speaker of the National Assembly, stressing that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had made sacrifices for the country’s defence for decades and that these sacrifices had helped keep Punjab and other parts of the country safe.
Meanwhile, figures relating to wheat production and availability in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also presented before the Assembly. According to documents submitted to the House, the province’s annual wheat requirement stands at 5.059 million metric tonnes, while its current annual production is only 1.5 million metric tonnes, making local production insufficient to meet the province’s overall requirement. The documents put annual per capita wheat consumption at 124 kilograms.
Government data presented to the Assembly also contained differing figures regarding the province’s population. One figure put the population at 40.8 million, while another gave the total population as 43.843 million. Officials said the Food Department was taking measures to maintain flour supplies according to market demand, while wheat was being released from provincial stocks and supplies were also being ensured through private trade from Punjab.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Food Israr Safi told the Assembly that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had purchased 400,000 metric tonnes of wheat from the federal government, while 189,000 metric tonnes were currently available in government warehouses. He said 95,000 metric tonnes had been supplied to flour mills since last month.
He claimed that there was no wheat shortage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said that even if neither the federal government nor Punjab supplied a single grain of wheat, the province had approximately one month’s stock available.
Israr Safi also strongly criticized the Punjab government over the wheat issue. He said the main reason for the wheat shortage across the country was Punjab, which produces around 20 million metric tonnes of wheat annually against its own requirement of approximately 16 million tonnes. He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa depended on Punjab for wheat and that disruptions in supplies from Punjab created difficulties for the province.
The Special Assistant alleged that the Punjab chief minister had personal animosity toward Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and had issued strict instructions to deputy commissioners regarding the movement of wheat.
The Assembly also discussed child protection and the rising number of sexual violence cases. Speaker Babar Saleem Swati said the government had decided to amend the Child Protection Bill to prevent sexual violence and that reforms to the Chief Minister’s Child Protection Bill were being reviewed. He said the relevant laws were being reassessed to make the child protection system more effective.
The Speaker said suspects in three sexual assault cases had been arrested, while suspects in cases reported in Swat and Nowshera had also been taken into custody. Progress was also reported on a proposal to name the Child Protection Bill after “Ayat Noor.”
The overall proceedings highlighted the major gap between wheat production and requirements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising questions about provincial food security, government policy and dependence on inter-provincial supplies. At the same time, the Assembly focused on strengthening legislation for child protection and combating sexual violence. On the political front, Maryam Nawaz’s remarks triggered tensions in the provincial legislature, while Speaker Babar Saleem Swati stressed that political differences should not cross the limits of personal attacks or character assassination and announced that he would take up the matter with the Speaker of the National Assembly.
