LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Monday defended Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz after her remarks about terrorism triggered a political storm, saying the critics were deliberately giving the issue a “provincial and ethnic colour”.

The controversy erupted after Ms Nawaz while discussing security concerns last week said “the unfortunate thing is that the threat Punjab faces comes less from my neighbouring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces.”

Her remarks drew sharp criticism particularly from political leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where successive governments and residents have long complained of bearing the brunt of Pakistan’s decades-long war against militancy.

Responding to the backlash in a video statement, Ms Bokhari insisted that the chief minister had merely highlighted the movement of militants across provincial boundaries and had not targeted any ethnic community.

“Maryam Nawaz was referring to terrorists who do not remain confined to one province and eventually move towards Punjab. What exactly is objectionable about that?” she asked.

Bokhari said terrorists operating in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including groups she described as being backed by India posed a security threat to the entire country.

“The Punjab government has revamped its Counter-Terrorism Department and that terrorist sleeper cells have been dismantled in the province,” she said and also referred to attacks on police checkpoints in Punjab, saying several police officials had been killed while combating militancy.

“Pakistan’s armed forces are fully capable of defending the country against external threats,” she said, adding that India, according to her, was pursuing its objectives through proxies rather than direct confrontation.

The minister also hit out at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, saying that maintaining law and order was primarily the responsibility of provincial authorities.

“You cannot simply hand over a province to the army and the police and then abdicate your own responsibility,” she said and questioned the demand by the KP chief minister for an apology from Ms Nawaz, arguing that the provincial government should instead focus on confronting the growing militant threat.

“Terrorist sleeper cells in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be eliminated just as they have been dealt with in Punjab,” she said, accusing the province’s leadership of focusing on political confrontation rather than security.

Maryam Nawaz’s remarks have become the latest flashpoint in the increasingly bitter political confrontation between the Punjab government and the PTI-backed administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2026