Punjab Assembly unites to honour armed forces

PTI members raise concerns over inflation, farmers' condition

LAHORE:

The Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution marking one year of Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos and hailed Pakistan's historic victory against Indian aggression, with both treasury and opposition members largely appearing on the same page in paying tribute to the armed forces, martyrs and national unity.

Despite the rare consensus on national security and support for the military, opposition lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also used the session to raise concerns over inflation, rising fuel prices, farmers' hardships and the broader economic situation, expressing hope that national unity shown during the conflict would also be translated into resolving public issues faced by ordinary citizens.

The opposition additionally criticised the absence of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz from the assembly proceedings commemorating the anniversary.

PTI lawmaker Khayal Kastro questioned why neither the chief minister nor former PM Nawaz Sharif had delivered strong statements during the Pakistan-India standoff, while reiterating that the opposition stood firmly with Pakistan and its armed forces. The resolution moved by Punjab Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman praised the armed forces and defence institutions for a decisive response to Indian aggression.

The resolution stated that India had used the Pahalgam incident as a pretext for attacks on Pakistan during the nights of May 6 and 7, 2025, targeting civilians, mosques, madrassas and water reservoirs, thereby endangering regional and global peace.

The house declared that the success of Maarka-e-Haq was made possible through the bravery of the armed forces and unprecedented national unity among the political leadership, religious scholars, media, civil society and minority communities. He credited Khan for publicly backing the military during the conflict with India and called for a judicial commission into the May 9 riots, alleging that the incidents had later been politically exploited against the PTI.