Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar delivered a hard-hitting speech during Tuesday's National Assembly session, criticizing political opponents for indulging in point-scoring even on matters of national security.
He also strongly condemned India over its narrative on the Pahalgam incident, calling it a "security failure" on New Delhi's part.
Tarar, addressing fellow parliamentarians, stressed the need for unity at a time when Pakistan faces heightened tensions with India. “Even on matters of national integrity and security, political point-scoring continues,” he lamented. “I don’t want clips from this session to end up on Indian media, making it look like we are a divided nation.”
He revealed that he, along with others, had recently visited the Line of Control (LoC), an area India has long accused of housing militant camps. “I went there to show that our political differences should be put aside in times like these. Defence and foreign policy should rise above party politics.”
The information minister reminded lawmakers of the unity shown by the country’s forefathers. “We have forgotten the legacy of our ancestors,” he said, urging members of the assembly to draw inspiration from history and present a united front. “At a time when the enemy is watching closely, we must not give them the opportunity to exploit our internal divides.”
Turning his attention to the recent Pahalgam incident, which India has blamed on Pakistan, Tarar strongly rejected the allegations and called it a major security lapse by Indian authorities.
“Pahalgam is 200 kilometres away from the border. What are the 900,000 occupation forces even doing there?” he asked. He also highlighted discrepancies in the Indian narrative, pointing out that “an FIR was registered within 10 minutes, but a witness said the police arrived an hour and a half later.”
“If the enemy wasn’t foolish, they would have planned Pahalgam better,” Tarar said sharply.
He also invoked the words of the late former president Gen Ayub Khan, who had once said that “the enemy doesn’t know which nation it has challenged”. Echoing this sentiment, Tarar declared, “Today too, I say, the enemy does not know which nation it is dealing with.”
In a rare gesture of bipartisan outreach, the minister stated, “Today I won’t call your leader bad nor my leader good. We will have our fights, pull each other’s collars, but today is not the day for division.”
Concluding his address, Tarar asserted that “all the tactics of the butcher of Gujarat have failed”. “The enemy is cunning, stupid, and malicious — but we are united, and that is our strength,” he said.
