Heated arguments and exchange of accusations between government and opposition lawmakers were seen in the National Assembly on Tuesday following the arrest of PTI MNAs last night from from Islamabad, including the parliament premises.

On Monday night, a day after the PTI held its Sangjani power show, law enforcement agencies swooped in on the party’s top leadership, whisking away at least three key members from different parts of Islamabad, while forcing others to take shelter in the Parliament House.

In a fiery speech on the floor of the lower house today, PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan, who appeared emotionally charged, lambasted the arrests of his fellow party leaders.

“Today, I am making a case on democracy,” he said. “Last night, what happened to democracy and to this parliament. We are not in Israel, we are in Pakistan.”

Addressing NA speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Khan said: “Your colleagues Sahibzada [Hamid Raza], Shafqat [Awan], Amir Dogar, Shiekh Waqar [Akram] and Maulana Naseem were seeking shelter in this parliament last night [when they were arrested]. Maulana Naseem was picked up from a mosque.

“While what happened on 9 May was wrong, what happened last night was 9 May for Pakistan’s democracy,” Khan said.

“This date (September 9) will be remembered in Pakistan’s history. It is filled with Liaquat Ali Khan, Bhutto’s execution, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s blood and gunshots at Imran Khan’s body.

“Last night, not from India, Israel or America but [people] from the institutions of my own country [made the arrests]. Who were […] those veiled people who entered [the Parliament] and took our people away?”

“This is an attack on democracy and on Pakistan’s constitution,” Khan said, before adding: “I am making a demand on behalf of the Constitution as I am in the parliament, on the basis of 250 million people, as Imran Khan’s soldier.”

“This attack is not on Imran Khan, Amir Dogar, Waqar or anyone. It is an attack on you, on Shehbaz Sharif, on Bilawal Bhutto and on politics,” Khan said while addressing the NA speaker.

Khawaja Asif hits back at PTI

Following Khan’s speech, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif lashed out at PTI.

Addressing the NA speaker, he questioned: “If you say ‘No Khan, no Pakistan’, what will be the reaction?”

The minister further condemned “equating Pakistan’s existence to one man”, as well as the call to “bring an army of Pashtuns and attack Punjab”.

Asif noted that the kind of language used last night was protested by colleagues sitting in the NA.

“Pakistan’s integrity was challenged the day before yesterday — the language used against women.

“Pakistan’s integrity, unity and Constitution’s status was challenged. What do you expect after that?” Khawaja questioned.

He noted that whenever there is “internal talk”, (PTI) says they want to speak to the army.

“Which Constitution says that if a political person has a grievance, they will talk to the army?

“This is a defect in political DNA. When you are launched through the army, you return to the origin.” Asif said.

He continued to blast the PTI, saying that none of the party’s protests match democratic values.

If yesterday’s incident was isolated, there would have been objection, Asif said, calling it a “chain of incidents”.

“On May 9, only military target were chosen. Those targets were insulted. Can any constitutional or moral protection be claimed?

“After breaking Colonel Sher Khan’s statue, you pray (fateha) on September 6,” referring to Defence Day. “Nothing is more hypocritical. This is the backdrop of what happened yesterday.”

Here, Khan could be heard protesting in the background.

Asif went on to say: “(PTI’s) leader is imprisoned but my leader (Nawaz Sharif) and his entire family were trapped.

“Their conscience is dead. They have sold their conscience,” Asif said before turning to Khan and telling him to “stop the drama”.

“He (Khan) was included when I was charged with Article 6; he voted in favour, everyone here is a witness,” Asif said. “He is a liar. Now that I have stepped on his tail, he is shouting.”

Rana Tanveer urges opposition to sit together, strengthen democracy

PML-N leader Rana Tanveer took a reconciliatory tone in the NA, and extended an offer to the opposition to unite to strengthen democracy and parliament.

He said this was the right time to work together for the people’s prosperity, development and uplift, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

Tanveer, who is minister for industries and production, then proceeded to list several incidents that occurred when the PTI government was in power.

He recalled that during the 2014 PTI sit-in in Islamabad, institutions like PTV and parliament were attacked.

He also said the civil disobedience campaign initiated by PTI leaders, during which people were asked not to pay their bills.

The minister recounted when police raided the hotel room of Maryam Nawaz and arrested her husband, Mohammad Safdar, while they were in Karachi in 2020.

He further said that opposition leaders were arrested on fabricated charges during the PTI government, and that PTI founder Imran Khan avoided meeting opposition members in the Assembly.

Tanveer also recalled that at the time, parliamentarians urged the PTI leadership to refrain from victimizing opponents.

With regards to PTI’s power show on Sunday, he regretted that no PTI member condemned the inappropriate language used by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur at a public rally, in which journalists and women were targeted.

The minister further recalled that the NA was unconstitutionally dissolved by PTI, and the people of Punjab were also deprived of their representation due to the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly last year.

Meanwhile, MQM-Pakistan leader Syed Mustafa Kamal stated in the NA that parliament is a supreme institution and should not be disrespected.

He also lambasted Gandapur’s speech on Sunday as “undemocratic and divisive”, and condemned the derogatory language used against women, political leaders, and journalists.

Kamal also said that there was no single party that could bring the country out of its current crisis, and urged political parties to unite on a common agenda.