Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that it was the responsibility of every parliamentarian to defend the Pakistan Army, even in the absence of an event such as the May 9 riots.

In an address at the National Assembly, he strongly condemned the violent protests on the day PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested and took exception to the attack on military installations. “It was not an attack on the military installations, but it was an attack on the country … on Pakistan.”

He stated that India has been regularly attacking bases in Pakistan, but contended that for the first time, an attack was launched into the country “from Mianwali and by the people of a former prime minister who singularly identified military sites”.

“The nations that don’t respect their martyrs are erased,” Asif said. “Are these Pakistanis? The people who attacked our martyrs, their faces should be identified.”