Why are People criticising the KP government’s plan for a new Pakhtunkhwa House in Haripur?
The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have widely criticised the provincial government’s decision to establish a new Pakhtunkhwa House in the limits of Haripur and termed it a waste of public funds and a launching pad for attacking the federal government.
In the Red Zone of Pakistan’s federal capital, Islamabad, the governments of all four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, have also established their own guest houses in the name of their respective provinces.
These guest houses are owned and managed by the provincial governments. This is why the provincial governments themselves handle security and all other administrative matters inside these houses.
Separate special residences have been prepared for the Governor and Chief Minister in these houses, where the Governor and Chief Minister themselves, their families or their close guests can stay.
Until a few years ago, these houses used to be the focus of media news only when a big political figure stayed here, held meetings or organised a press conference, etc. However, in 2022, during the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Sindh House was used as an arena against the federal government for the first time by making disgruntled members of the PTI stay in the Sindh House.
Being a provincial property, the Islamabad Police could not take any action despite pressure from the federal government. In fact, when the PTI workers reached Sindh House, the federal police were criticised for not stopping them, saying that they had failed to protect Sindh’s property.
After the February 2025 elections, the PTI announced its arrival at D-Chowk twice. After much effort, when the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister reached D-Chowk with a convoy, he immediately went to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House.
After their arrival, Rangers, FC and other federal agencies raided the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House. Clashes broke out between the workers and the security agencies. During these clashes, there were reports that the Chief Minister had been arrested. However, the next day, i.e. 24 hours later, the Chief Minister suddenly arrived at the provincial assembly session and said in his address that he had managed to leave Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House and reach Peshawar via several districts.
This was the first time that a federal agency raided a house owned by the province in Islamabad. Later, the CDA sealed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, but it had been de-sealed under the orders of the Islamabad High Court.
After this situation, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government took a big decision and allocated funds in the annual development program of the financial year 2025-26. It decided to build a new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House at Makhnial, across Pir Sohawa, outside the limits of Islamabad, within the limits of Haripur, and allocated funds for it. The project has been estimated to cost Rs 500 million, while Rs 250 million has been allocated in the first phase.
Now, progress has been made in this regard, and the provincial government has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Haripur to identify a suitable place at Makhnial and has also issued orders to the Public Works Department to prepare PC-1.
The provincial government is being criticised on social media after official correspondence in this regard came to light. On the one hand, some people believe that the provincial government will use KP House outside Islamabad as a launching pad for an attack on the federation, while on the other hand, it is being said that the construction of KP House is an injustice to the people of the province when there is a flood situation in the province and thousands of people are displaced.
Read also: https://www.sixty.pk/en/story/khyber-pakhtunkhwa-house-sealed-by-cda-over-non-compliance-issues
