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LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has called for new National Action Plan (NAP) to effectively eliminate terrorism in the wake of train hijacking and also declared that no unity among the ranks of the political class can be achieved because of PTI’s “anti-army politics”.
“Achieving national unity is impossible amidst the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s anti-state and anti-army politics,” she said while talking to reporters here on Friday.
She advised the PTI to prioritise saving the country rather than waging a battle to protect one individual (Imran Khan) who has been incarcerated since August 2023 in multiple cases. She criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of Ali Amin Gandapur for being occupied with sending delegations to Afghanistan while the people suffered from terrorism in the province.
She said unity became difficult when the PTI was reluctant to even condemn terrorism but interested in targeting the military.
On the one hand, Ms Bokhari declared that unity with the PTI couldn’t be achieved and on the other she underscored the urgent need for national unity to tackle serious challenges like terrorism. “Combating terrorism requires collective effort. However, unity becomes difficult when PTI does not even condemn terrorism and instead attacks the military. The national security demands unity from all political forces,” she remarked.
Unhappy with non-implementation of the NAP in its true letter and spirit, the Punjab minister called for revisiting it. “There should be a new NAP — a new strategy must be formulated to effectively eliminate terrorism,” she said and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to tackling this issue with utmost priority.
Commenting on PTI’s approach, she stated that criminals (May 9 suspects) could not be engaged in governance discussions, but other PTI members were welcome to negotiate with the government.
Ms Bokhari expressed disappointment over PTI’s conduct in the NA, chiding them for not uttering a single word of condemnation during the session. The PTI members present in the assembly should have spoken against the banned Balochistan Liberation Army, she added.
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2025
