Lahore:

The reigning party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), fell hard on Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday to skip the parliamentary committee meeting on national security and accused the party of playing in the hands of antiphate elements.

When he repeated his decision allies, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also threw the Imran Khan-led party for “extortion of security issues” solely because of its imprisoned leaders’ absence from the high level of security.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb Rev into the former reigning party to bow to high-level security and accused it of seeing anti-state elements.

The senior provincial minister, whose party has been holding the reins at the center since 2022 and is now in its second period, held a crucial press conference to express grief over the tragic terrorist attack on Jaffar Express.

However, the limelight of the censorship of PTI remained – not only to skip the national security moot, but also to cast doubt on the performance of the security forces.

Since the meeting, the ruling alliance has closed the ranks by condemning PTI and accusing it for repeatedly avoiding key discussions in an attempt to move the national conversation away from the growing ghost of terrorism.

Judgment of PTI’s criticism of the armed forces and its alleged anarchist agenda warned Marriyum that anyone seeking to spread chaos at this time “would not be spared”.

When asked why PML-N president Nawaz Sharif did not attend the meeting, she quoted his health as the reason.

Interestingly, when asked about the fine imposed on Nawaz Sharif’s son, Hussain Nawaz, by Britain’s NCA to be declared a tax fauler, she dismissed it as an attempt to divert attention from skipping security.

She said that financial affairs regarding the Sharif family had already been cleared by agencies in Pakistan and abroad.

Marriyum emphasized the urgent need for national unity in the fight against terrorism and said terrorism is not targeting a single law enforcement agency or group, but threatens the entire country’s existence.

She recalled that the previous PML-N government after Army Public School (ApS) had successfully united all political parties to establish a national narrative for lasting peace. In contrast, she accused PTI of sowing departments of national security issues and not to demonstrate unity in the war on terrorism.

Marriyum claimed that PTI representatives repeatedly avoided national security parliamentary committee meetings, despite the fact that national security was a matter of national concern rather than party policy.

‘Extortion of Security Questions’

Meanwhile, in a post on the social media platform ‘X’, Senator Irfan Siddiqui also threw PTI’s decision to Boikotte Security Huddle and said it was perfectly adapted to the party’s political approach.

“Only PTI could prioritize meeting a convicted prisoner rather than formulating a strategy for combating terrorism that has demanded the lives of 93,000 Pakistanis,” Siddiqui said.

He also pointed out that the prisoner in question – Imran Khan – never participated in a single national security forum, even when he was prime minister.

Meanwhile, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza also strongly condemned PTI’s decision to boycott the meeting on Imran Khan’s exclusion and called it an act of political extortion against national security.

“PTI’s extortion of national security issues is a negation of patriotism,” Murtaza said.

He condemned the relocation and said, “To refuse to attend a crucial security meeting just because a convicted person does not get a trial is a shameful act.”

Murtaza pointed out that Imran, even as prime minister, never attended a single national security meeting. “Now this national criminals are bullied into extortion of critical national issues that are regrettable,” he added.

He emphasized that Pakistan’s security and public welfare must be prioritized for politics.