Islamabad, Mar 13, 2025, IANS

Islamabad, March 13 (IANS) Even as questions mounted over the handling of the Jaffar Express hijacking in Balochistan, the Pakistan government remained notably silent in the National Assembly, despite scathing criticism from the Opposition. On Wednesday, the coalition government avoided any mention of the hijacking incident, which had shaken the nation, as Opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan slammed its response. According to local media reports, key Pakistani ministers, including Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, were present in the House but refrained from making a policy statement. The standoff between the fighters of the Baloch Liberation Army's (BLA) Majeed Brigade and the Pakistani military, which followed the massive attack on the Jaffar Express in Bolan district, finally ended after more than 24 hours on Wednesday evening. The military claimed that the operation to neutralise the attackers and rescue the hostages had concluded successfully. Security sources confirmed that at least 346 hostages were rescued and around 50 attackers were neutralised. "Operation concluded, the site has been cleared. All hostages were released. Total rescued 346-168 last night and 178 today. 50 terrorists eliminated," a reliable security source stated. Officials also revealed that militants had been using women and children as human shields during the attack. The train, which was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, was hijacked by BLA militants, with over 400 passengers taken hostage. However, despite the severity of the crisis, the federal Cabinet showed little urgency in addressing the matter. During the National Assembly session, Omar Ayub Khan demanded that regular proceedings be suspended to allow for a debate on the Jaffar Express hijacking. However, PPP's Abdul Qadir Patel, who was presiding over the sitting in the absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, ignored the request and proceeded with the Question Hour instead. This decision triggered a noisy protest from PTI lawmakers, who staged a walk out after raising slogans in protest, according to a report by the leading Pakistani daily, Dawn. Following the completion of the Question Hour, the PTI members returned to the House, where Omar Ayub took the floor to launch a blistering critique of the government's inaction. "Balochistan is burning and the government is doing business as usual," he said. Pointing to treasury members engaged in casual conversations, he remarked that their lack of seriousness reflected the government's indifference to terrorism. Khan also demanded the release of several critical reports, including those of the Hamoodur Rehman Commission on the 1971 War, the Abbottabad Commission, and investigations into the Salala checkpoint attack and the 2014 Army Public School massacre in Peshawar. Calling the Jaffar Express attack "a gross Intelligence failure," Khan questioned how dozens of terrorists managed to assemble and carry out the operation in broad daylight without being detected by Intelligence agencies. He lamented that while soldiers and officers of the armed forces bore the brunt of such failures, law enforcement agencies were quick to mobilise against even a handful of PTI members. With 13 Intelligence agencies operating in the country, Khan alleged that their primary focus was targeting Opposition leaders rather than tracking down terrorists. He accused the Balochistan government of prioritising crackdowns on Opposition figures like Mahmood Achakzai, Akhtar Mengal, and Mahrang Baloch while failing to address the growing presence of militants. He claimed that 37 districts in Balochistan had effectively become "no-go areas" due to government inaction. Shifting his attack to economic issues, Khan criticised the government's policies and challenged its claims of curbing inflation and price hikes. Earlier in the session, the government faced backlash not only from the Opposition but also from coalition partners over the absence of ministers during proceedings, further fueling tensions in the National Assembly.