Opposition flays linking of provinces to terror

Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) Punjab Chief Organiser Ammar Ali Jan and Information Secretary Shayan Bashir have condemned Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif's remarks blaming Pakistan's own provinces for terrorism, calling the statement "not merely regrettable but dangerous".

They said the chief minister had said at a public gathering in Lahore that the threat to Punjab came less from across the border than from the provinces alongside it.

Ammar Ali Jan said alienation among young people in the smaller provinces was already deepening due to years of political deprivation and injustice.

He said linking entire provinces to terrorism would fan hatred and prejudice.

He added that such remarks could play into the hands of elements seeking to destabilise Pakistan.

The provincial TTAP information secretary. Shayan Bashir, said it was a display of arrogance by a chief minister installed on the basis of a disputed mandate to cast suspicion on provinces where the people's verdict was respected.

He alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership was trying to divide people along provincial lines to revive their "dying politics", adding that people would no longer be misled by attempts to stoke hatred.