Opposition was ‘standing with the terrorists’, not the country: Khawaja Asif
ISLAMABAD, June 23 (SABAH): Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Sunday that the opposition was “standing with the terrorists”, not the country as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vehemently opposed operation “Azm-e-Istehkam”.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led government had on Saturday announced the fresh counter-terrorism operation, pledging to utilise the full strength of the country’s resources, including military, diplomatic, and legislative, to turn the heat up on militants.
The Central Apex Committee on National Action Plan (NAP) gave the approval for the operation, in which top officials of all provinces were present, including PTI-backed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
The move comes as the country has witnessed a significant surge in terrorist attacks in recent months resulting in scores of both civilian and security forces’ casualties.
Talking on the floor of the National Assembly as the opposition sloganeered calling for “an end to the operation,” Khawaja Asif said: “In yesterday’s meeting, their Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was present. All these decisions were taken in front of him.”
The PTI had staged a walkout for an hour against the operation, but later returned and began raising several slogans, including “end the operation”, and “we want peace”.
Khawaja Asif, coming down hard on the PTI lawmakers, said that their protest in the parliament was tantamount to them supporting and standing with the terrorists. “They are against the Pakistani Army and the martyrs. They still stand with their May 9 stance,” Khawaja Asif said, referring to the violent event that took place when PTI founder Imran Khan was arrested, which saw state installations being attacked.
The defence minister said he was speaking about the country’s security, but the PTI’s only goal was to protest and not to hear him out. “They are neither with the country nor with the Constitution.”
Khawaja Asif said the treasury benches wanted to introduce a resolution in the House in favour of minorities who were not safe in Pakistan, but the opposition wasn’t even allowing him to discuss a serious issue.
Mobs and groups were killing people in Swat and Faisalabad, he said, adding that the even smaller Muslim sects remained unsafe even through Islam didn’t committing murders in the name of religion.
The constitution guaranteed the minorities’ right and the state was responsible for protecting them, said the minister in unequivocal terms, as he wondered why the opposition wanted to silence the voice through their protest.
As Khawaja Asif started his speech, he said minorities were completely insecure in the same of religion, causing embarrassment to Pakistan internationally.
During his speech, he said the decisions made in the Apex Committee about the planned Operation Azm-i-Istehkam would be put before the federal cabinet besides tabling the matter before the parliament – a plan approved by an Apex Committee meeting held to review the National Action Plan (NAP).
The opposition could share their reservations during the debate, said Khawaja Asif who mentioned that their leader – PTI founding chairman Imran Khan – was also used to change his stance and they were just mimicking him.
Criticising the PTI for its politics, he mentioned that they committed power theft, but resorted to protest when electricity supply was suspended – a reference to the trend in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has regularly defended the practice while also encouraging the people to take law and order into their hands.
While they staged the walkout, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, speaking outside the Parliament House, said that the legislature must be taken into confidence before any operation is launched.
PTI’s top leader Asad Qasier told reporters that any decision or agreement reached must be brought before the parliament. “We do not support any operation.”