PESHAWAR: Information and public relations minister Shafi Jan on Wednesday said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman should not have made the statement but his patriotism couldn’t be questioned.

Addressing a news conference alongside provincial minister for minority affairs Adnan Qadri, Mr Jan said the martyrs were a source of pride and belonged to the entire nation.

He said a unanimously-agreed bill on seminaries would soon be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval.

In a statement issued from his office, the minister agreed with the JUI-F cleric’s remarks regarding parliament, alleging that it had become a rubber stamp and claimed that the PPP and the PML-N were two sides of the same coin.

He said that the news conferences against the JUI-F chief should now end.

Mr Jan said that the biggest challenge facing the provincial government was the law and order situation and that all available resources were being utilised to protect public lives and property.

He said that the provincial government had increased the police budget to Rs191 billion, while Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had also approved a Rs31 billion special package to enhance the operational capacity of the counter-terrorism department and the police in his first cabinet meeting.

Criticising political opponents, the minister said the public debate focused on the blue passport issue but no one spoke about the Punjab government buying an aircraft worth Rs11 billion.

He said that August 5 would mark three years since the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Mr Jan said the party’s parliamentary meeting had agreed on a strong protest strategy to mark the occasion and that preparations for a province-wide protest movement were under way and party leadership would soon announce its schedule.

He said that Mr Imran had been deprived of his basic legal rights, remained in solitary confinement for the past seven months, while the former prime minister was being continuously denied access to his personal physician, telephone conversations with his sons and adequate meetings with his lawyers.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2026