Azma Bukhari says Maryam Nawaz’s remarks on terror threats ‘misrepresented’

LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Zahid Bukhari on Monday defended Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s recent remarks about security threats from provinces, saying her statement had been deliberately given a misleading interpretation.

In a video statement, Bukhari said that Maryam Nawaz had been referring to the movement of terrorists across provincial borders and expressing concern over security threats entering Punjab from adjoining areas.

“Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her concerns regarding terrorists coming from other provinces,” Bukhari said, rejecting attempts to portray the remarks as an attack on other provinces.

Her comments came after Maryam Nawaz said at an artificial intelligence technology event in Lahore on Saturday that Punjab faced less threat from neighbouring countries and more from neighbouring provinces.

She said terrorism entered Punjab through its provincial borders and that the province faced threats from the tri-border area and other provincial borders.

Bukhari said that the country could not afford politics of division and stressed that the entire nation stood with security forces in the fight against terrorism.

She praised the armed forces for what she described as Pakistan’s major success in the “Battle of Truth” and said India had been given a strong response whenever it attacked Pakistan.

“India cannot fight Pakistan directly and is conspiring through proxies,” Bukhari said, adding that militant elements were carrying out terrorist activities in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

She said security forces had rendered countless sacrifices in the war against terrorism and criticised the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Bukhari said that resources in the province were being used for what she called “politics of agitation”, while maintaining that Maryam Nawaz also wanted peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

She said that Punjab had also experienced terrorist attacks at several checkpoints and lost police personnel in such incidents.

Defending the Punjab government’s security policies, Bukhari cited the situation in the riverine areas, saying criminal gangs had previously moved between Sindh and Punjab whenever an operation was launched in either province.

She credited Maryam Nawaz’s targeted operation with restoring peace in the riverine areas, claiming that no case had been reported there for several months.

The provincial minister said that maintaining law and order was the responsibility of provincial governments and questioned the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s demand that Maryam Nawaz apologise.

She also rejected allegations that Maryam Nawaz’s remarks amounted to an insult to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the Punjab chief minister had continued to provide laptops and scholarships to students from other provinces.

“Maryam Nawaz’s work against terrorism is visible to everyone,” Bukhari said.