Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, Oct 21, 2025: In an unexpected detour from the country’s urgent crises, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to visit the remote village of Ghahirat in Lower Chitral today (Wednesday), not to address a looming national issue or launch a high-stakes policy initiative, but to personally congratulate a junior member of his staff on his recent wedding.
Fazlur Rehman Shahid, a Grade VII official at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, tied the knot just five days ago in Chitral. While weddings are typically private affairs, this one has garnered national attention due to Sharif’s decision to make it the centerpiece of his visit.
Officially, the trip is framed as part of a broader agenda, which includes the inauguration of a new 200-bed District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Chitral, the groundbreaking of a Danish School in Saeedabad near Drosh, and a laptop distribution ceremony for high-achieving students.
However, despite efforts to downplay the event – local Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders were instructed to keep the gathering small, with only 20 to 25 members from Lower and Upper Chitral invited – the optics of a prime minister traveling to a remote village to congratulate a staffer on his wedding, especially just weeks before the hotly contested NA-1 by-election, have not escaped public scrutiny.
Opposition voices, notably from the beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), wasted no time in seizing on the timing of the visit. “Is this a wedding reception or a soft campaign election launch,” asked Sikanderul Mulk, PTI’s president for Upper Chitral. “While inflation soars and governance falters, the prime minister is playing guest of honor in the mountains.”
Despite the controversy surrounding the visit, which critics argue blurs the line between personal and public duties, not all responses have been negative.
Siraj Ali Khan, a leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Upper Chitral, welcomed Sharif’s presence but used the occasion to press for the districts’ long-overdue infrastructure improvements.
Khan called on the prime minister to immediately order the construction of critical roads, such as the Booni to Chitral, Booni to Shandur, and Mastuj to Broghil roads – projects he said would strengthen the districts’ ties to the PML-N.
Khan also highlighted the districts’ ailing health services, calling on the prime minister to take action and improve local hospitals, which he described as being “left at the mercy of God” by the provincial PTI government.
While Sharif’s trip to Chitral may be framed as part of a broader developmental agenda, its timing and focus on a personal celebration have raised questions about the intersection of politics and private affairs, especially ahead of crucial elections in the region.