In a strongly-worded condemnation of the Indian Air Force attack in Pakistani areas, all lawmakers of the two houses, have unanimously assured their full support to armed forces to defend the motherland.
To deal with Indian violations of the Line of Control on Tuesday, the government called a joint parliamentary session today (Wednesday) to give a more comprehensive response to India and the international Community. The parliament would forward a collective, single decision on how to defend the country, along with the best possible response over the Indian aggressive war hysteria, always witnessed ahead of their general elections.
There was complete oneness and the legislators in both houses rose above party affiliation to call for effective measures to avoid such attack by India in future.
The opposition members in the national assembly had suggested the government call to convene a joint session of parliament immediately to send a collective message from the parliament. During the National Assembly (NA) session, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader, Khursheed Shah, had demanded that a joint parliamentary session is summoned. “We are in a state of war and the parliament should sit together and decide,” Shah noted, further adding that India wanted to exploit Pakistan’s internal differences and attack.
“We need to demonstrate our unity,” he went on to say.
He recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s address to the nation last week, and said, “We will not think about responding to India’s aggression and we should not even think.”
Shah asserted that the opposition was ready to stand on the border and Pakistanis were ready to sacrifice their lives. The leader also urged the government to take India’s intrusion seriously and consider it a warning.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former defence minister, Khawaja Asif, endorsed Shah’s demand for a joint session. He also opposed India’s inclusion in the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Kashmir, which was scheduled to be held in Jeddah. The PML-N leader also urged all political parties to get united and express solidarity with the armed forces.
“Our country, our sovereignty and our integrity are being threatened,” Asif said.
“It is not the time for political point-scoring,” he maintained while assuring, “we are standing behind our armed forces like an iron wall.”
Former NA speaker and PML-N leader, Ayaz Sadiq, asked the government to impose a ban on all imports from India.
PPP leader and former foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, also strongly criticized the OIC for inviting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as its guest of honour.
“We have to demonstrate to the world that the entire nation is united for its defence and politicians could stand together,” she added.
While agreeing with the opposition’s demand for a joint parliament session, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former speaker, Syed Fakhar Imam Shah, asserted that India had challenged the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan and Pakistan needed to decide whether to live with honour or otherwise.
“Now the time has come for Pakistan’s survival. This is not someone else’s war. This is Pakistan’s war,” he emphatically said.
Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services, Murad Saeed, also spoke on the occasion and said that the nation and the political leadership stood united with their armed forces against any cross border violation. “We might have our internal differences but all are united on the same front when it comes to the defence of the homeland,” he continued, advising Modi to not escalate the situation.
Claiming that India could not fight a war with Pakistan, he said, “We have grown up in the eras of wars.”
He said that the Pakistani flag would be hoisted at Lal Qila if India continued to challenge Pakistan. Responding to Indian attempts to isolate Pakistan, the federal minister asserted, “Today, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, China and other countries are supporting Pakistan.”
“It’s India who is in isolation right now,” he contented. Setting aside political differences, the treasury and opposition benches in Senate, today, also strongly condemned the Indian aggression and called for a united response to India. Opposition leader in Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq, said that all the political parties were on the same page on the Indian aggression. He said that he still remembered the words of the prime minister that India would be given an exemplary response. He said that the Senate would come up to the expectations of the nation and give a message to India.
PPP senator, Raza Rabbani, said that despite differences with the government, the nation, parliament and Senate would give a united message to India. He said that despite political differences, the Pakistani nation was united against Indian aggression. He strongly condemned the Indian aggression, saying that India has violated the airspace of Pakistan.
The PPP leader said that the founding member of the OIC was attacked by India. He asked the justification behind the OIC’s invitation to the Indian foreign minister and even demanded the OIC to cancel its invitation. He said that Pakistan had always stood by the Muslim countries in a difficult time.
PTI’s Senator Faisal Javed also strongly condemned the Indian aggression and said that timely action by the PAF had repulsed the Indian attack. He termed the Indian jets intrusion as an attack on Pakistan, its integrity and its sovereignty.
Published in Daily Times, February 27th 2019.
