By:-Ashraf Ali
Maryam Nawaz’s recent assertion that Punjab faces a greater security threat from neighbouring provinces than from neighbouring countries is not merely an unfortunate political statement; it raises a much more serious question about the national security narrative being presented to Pakistan and the world.
For years, Pakistan has consistently maintained before the international community that terrorism is not simply an internal Pakistani phenomenon. Pakistan has repeatedly accused militant organisations of receiving support, financing, training or facilitation from external actors, while also pointing to cross-border sanctuaries and hostile intelligence networks. Whatever the international debate surrounding these claims, they constitute an important part of Pakistan’s diplomatic and security narrative.
Against this backdrop, publicly suggesting that the principal threat to Pakistan’s largest province comes not from neighbouring countries but from Pakistan’s own neighbouring provinces is politically reckless.
Who benefits when Pakistan begins blaming Pakistan?
If a political leader tells the world that Punjab is more threatened by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan or other Pakistani provinces than by neighbouring countries, the obvious question arises: what happens to Pakistan’s international narrative about external sponsorship of terrorism?
Does Pakistan want to tell the world that terrorism is fundamentally a conflict between its own provinces?
If so, then Pakistan is voluntarily weakening its own diplomatic position.
India, in particular, has long been the subject of serious accusations by Pakistan regarding alleged support for hostile activities against Pakistan. Pakistan has also accused India of using proxies and militant networks to destabilise the country. Similarly, Pakistan has repeatedly raised concerns about militant activity originating from or facilitated through Afghanistan. Recent security incidents along the Afghanistan border demonstrate that cross-border militancy remains a major security concern.
Therefore, reducing the security debate to “the real threat comes from neighbouring provinces” is not simply an attack on provincial harmony; it risks undermining the broader national security narrative.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not the enemy
There is an even greater irony in the statement.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not some foreign territory standing outside Pakistan. Its people are Pakistani citizens. Its police officers, soldiers, Levies personnel and civilians have paid an extraordinary price in the fight against terrorism.
To portray an entire province as a source from which terrorism “enters” Punjab is an extraordinarily dangerous political simplification. Terrorists do not carry provincial identity cards. Militancy does not belong to Pashtuns, Punjabis, Sindhis or Baloch. Terrorism is the enemy of every Pakistani.
If militants cross a provincial boundary, the answer should be better intelligence, policing, border management and coordination—not the political demonisation of an entire province.
The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have lived with terrorism at a scale that many parts of the country have fortunately not experienced. Turning their suffering into a political accusation against the province is therefore not only unfair; it is profoundly insensitive.
And what about India?
Perhaps the most damaging implication of such rhetoric is the impression it can create internationally: that India is no longer regarded as a meaningful security threat by Pakistan.
That is a remarkably consequential message.
Pakistan has spent years arguing internationally that India represents a serious strategic and security challenge, including allegations of involvement in destabilising activities inside Pakistan. If a senior provincial leader now publicly suggests that the threat from neighbouring provinces is greater than the threat from neighbouring countries, international observers are naturally entitled to ask:
Was Pakistan wrong all along?
Were its diplomatic complaints exaggerated?
Were its security assessments politically manufactured?
Why should the international community take Pakistan’s future allegations seriously if its own political leadership publicly contradicts the country’s established security narrative?
This is precisely why statements on national security cannot be treated like ordinary political slogans.
Political rivalry must not become national fragmentation
There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that terrorism can exploit provincial boundaries. But there is everything wrong with converting a counterterrorism problem into a provincial blame game.
Pakistan does not need Punjab versus Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It does not need Balochistan versus Punjab.
It does not need Sindh versus Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
And it certainly does not need political leaders teaching Pakistanis to look at fellow citizens as an internal enemy.
The constitutional federation of Pakistan is stronger when its provinces cooperate and weaker when politicians portray one province as a threat to another.
If terrorists exploit a provincial border, the border should be secured—not the province demonised.
A dangerous gift to Pakistan’s adversaries
The most troubling aspect of such statements is that Pakistan’s adversaries do not even have to manufacture propaganda when Pakistani politicians themselves provide them with material.
One side of Pakistan’s diplomatic argument says that the country faces externally sponsored terrorism and cross-border militancy.
Then a senior political leader publicly says the greater threat comes from Pakistan’s own provinces.
Which version will an international journalist quote?
Which version will an Indian diplomat highlight?
Which version will Pakistan’s opponents use at international forums?
The answer is obvious.
When political rhetoric contradicts national security policy, the damage does not stop at political boundaries—it travels across international borders.
The mature response is unity, not provincial chauvinism
Maryam Nawaz is entitled to protect Punjab. Every chief minister is responsible for the security of his or her province.
But protecting Punjab cannot mean politically distancing Punjab from the rest of Pakistan.
Punjab’s security is inseparable from the security of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh. Pakistan’s security is indivisible.
The appropriate response to terrorism is therefore not:
“The terrorists are coming from that province.”
It should be:
“Pakistan will defeat terrorism wherever it originates, whoever sponsors it and whichever province it targets.”
That is the language of a national leader.
Provincial blame is the language of political division.
The question Maryam Nawaz must answer
If neighbouring provinces are a greater threat to Punjab than neighbouring countries, then the people of Pakistan deserve a serious explanation:
Has Pakistan changed its assessment of external threats?
Has India ceased to be considered a security threat?
Has Pakistan withdrawn its allegations regarding externally supported terrorism?
If not, why publicly create an impression that neighbouring provinces pose the greater danger?
These are not petty political questions. They concern Pakistan’s national security narrative.
Pakistan’s enemies should not be handed diplomatic ammunition by Pakistan’s own political leadership.
Maryam Nawaz may have intended to speak about Punjab’s internal security challenges. But national leaders are judged not merely by what they intend to say; they are judged by what their words communicate to the country and to the world.
And this statement communicated something deeply dangerous:
Instead of seeing Pakistan as one nation confronting terrorism, it encouraged the perception of Pakistan as provinces confronting one another.
That is not national security.
That is political irresponsibility.
Pakistan does not need politicians who teach its provinces to fear one another. Pakistan needs leadership capable of identifying the real threats, defending the national narrative and standing united against terrorism—whether its perpetrators are domestic militants or external actors allegedly supporting them.
Written By:-Ashraf Ali,
PRO to Home Minister KP
