Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a letter addressed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Monday, expressed “deep concern” at the treatment meted out to him during his three-day Lahore visit , stating it was marked by “discourtesy and unnecessary hostility”. In a two-page letter, posted on X by the KP government, the Afridi recorded his formal objection to the Punjab government’s conduct, and said, “I write to you with deep concern and strong exception to the manner in which my recent visit to the Province of Punjab was handled, and the events that deliberately unfolded during and after the visit.” He recalled that the “sequence of actions witnessed was neither accidental nor administrative in nature.“ “It reflects conduct that is wholly incompatible with the dignity of constitutional office and the spirit of inter-provincial respect,” he said. CM Afridi told the Punjab CM that he undertook the visit in his capacity as the chief minister. “Regrettably, the treatment accorded to me was marked by discourtesy, unnecessary hostility, and protocol deviations that cannot be justified under any accepted standard of inter-provincial engagement,” he said. Afridi maintained that the Punjab government’s adoption of an extraordinary and excessive security posture — including sweeping detentions and visible enforcement theatrics — was “a message of intimidation rather than cooperation”. He complained that “such measures were neither proportionate nor warranted and conveyed an intent that went well beyond legitimate security considerations”. The KP chief minister further recalled that “even public places, including food streets and markets, were completely sealed, and whole blackouts were affected, venues denied, paining the common citizens of Lahore at this expense”. “Free access, as provided for in the Constitution, was even denied at Motorway rest areas,” added the letter. The KP CM also took note of the “coordinated and malicious social media campaign that accompanied and followed“ his visit. “Serious insinuations- specifically linking with narcotics were injected into public discourse,” Afridi said. “These allegations were amplified through accounts widely perceived to be aligned with, or operating under the umbrella of, the Government of Punjab,” he alleged. He continued: “Let me state this clearly: the use of state-linked digital platforms to circulate or amplify defamatory insinuations against a sitting Chief Minister of another province is unacceptable, irresponsible, and institutionally indefensible.” “Allegations of such gravity cannot be floated through innuendo or suggestion; they require evidence, jurisdiction, and lawful process,” he told the Punjab CM. “Anything short of that constitutes character assassination,” he added. KP CM was of the view that, “taken together — protocol degradation, excessive policing optics, and synchronised digital vilification — the pattern is too consistent to be dismissed as coincidental.” He alleged that the series of events suggested “planning and intent, aimed at humiliation rather than engagement”. CM Afridi maintained that “such actions undermine federal harmony, erode public trust in provincial institutions, and [set] a dangerous precedent where constitutional officeholders are targeted through insinuation rather than addressed through formal channels.” He termed the conduct “beneath the status of a provincial government,“ and stressed that it damaged the ”collective credibility of federating units.“ As he concluded his letter to Maryam, the chief minister stated: “I place on record my strong protest and rejection of the treatment meted out to me and of the defamatory narratives propagated during this episode.” “I expect that your government will ensure that such conduct-administrative as well as digital-is neither repeated nor normalised, and that accountability is enforced where required,” he said. Punjab govt‘s conduct ‘undemocratic and reprehensible’ Separately, the KP CM also condemned the treatment meted out to him by the Punjab government during a cabinet meeting today, calling it “undemocratic, reprehensible, and contrary to national unity”. The chief minister condemned the treatment and said, “The way me and my cabinet members were treated, the whole world witnessed it“. “When the country is going through political and economic instability, such an attitude — at a time when we need national unity — will only fan flames of hatred,“ the chief minister said. “Violence was perpetrated against cabinet members by the Punjab government, and roads were continuously blocked for a provincial chief minister, markets were forcibly shut down, even motorway rest areas were sealed, and turning off the lights during a visit to Mazar-e-Iqbal is extremely regrettable,” the minister was quoted as saying. He remarked that “such an attitude — reflecting Punjab government’s moral and intellectual depravity — was condemnable and alarming“. Afridi noted that the actions were “especially alarming given the instability in the country“ and warned that by continuing with such behaviour, “they were sowing hatred and division”. “We condemn the attitude in the strongest of words,” he said, adding that hateful attitudes were “detrimental to the country”. KP CM directed his government officials to be hospitable towards any officials or chief ministers visiting KP from other provinces in accordance with cultural traditions and norms. During the meeting, the chief minister also highlighted that the Centre had yet to release funds owed to the merged districts of KP under the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP). “Work remains stalled in our merged districts because of it,” he said, adding that the Centre owed KP Rs4,758 billion. “It has been more than half a year, and we have not yet received the funds under AIP, ” the chief minister said. “Even the amount that was already committed is not being given,” he added. Afridi was in Lahore to launch PTI’s street movement. He had arrived on Friday around 4:30pm, from where he made a beeline for the Punjab Assembly. However, the visit to the provincial legislature was marred by altercations between members of his entourage and security officials, while several heated exchanges between PTI leaders and journalists were also witnessed. During his visit, he criticised the Punjab government for its rude behaviour toward him. “This shows their mean mentality, which cannot be approved in a civilised society,” he lambasted them and alleged that the “Punjab government is fanning hatred between the two provinces.“ Regretting the administration’s attitude on his arrival, he invited CM Maryam to visit KP, saying he would show her how democratic forces respect the office of a provincial chief executive. In a separate incident during his visit, when CM Afridi’s entourage reached Lahore’s Food Street for dinner, all restaurants were shut with the lights turned off, and even the general public was evicted.