Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against “unconstitutional restrictions” on the inter-provincial movement of wheat.
The development comes as the Punjab government has faced criticism[1] by the KP and Sindh governments for allegedly choking wheat flow to the two provinces. However, a day earlier, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari insisted[2] that there was no ban on the inter-provincial movement of wheat, terming the “ongoing propaganda in this regard baseless and contrary to facts”.
In a post on social media platform X today, the KP governor said: “Such limitations not only affect the province’s food security but also go against the spirit of cooperative federalism enshrined in our Constitution.”
He expressed his confidence that the matter would be resolved promptly “under the prime minister’s leadership”.
The letter, which Kundi also posted on X, termed the restrictions a “serious concern”, pointing out that KP was a “wheat-deficient province and depends substantially on inter-provincial inflows to meet its essential food requirements”.
It said that the restrictions contradicted Article 151 of the Constitution which guaranteed freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse among the provinces.
“Any disruption in supply risks creating artificial shortages, price escalation and public hardship,” he said, warning of the impacts on the general public that would potentially trigger resentment.
Kundi requested Shehbaz’s “kind and immediate intervention in this matter and direction to the concerned authorities” to withdraw the restrictions in order to ensure the “uninterrupted and legally protected movement of wheat” into the province.
“I remain confident that, under your leadership, the constitutional rights of the people of KP will be safeguarded effectively and without delay,” he said.
References
- ^ faced criticism (www.dawn.com)
- ^ insisted (www.dawn.com)