A heated exchange was witnessed between Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and Senator Palwasha Khan on Friday during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Communications over a question related to the construction of a road project.
The confrontation began when the PPP senator raised a question about a road she alleged was benefiting a private housing society in Lahore.
Pulwasha maintained that it was her right to “seek clarification on a project funded with public money and question whether the road had been built to benefit a specific private entity”.
A bitter exchange then took place between the minister and the senator. “I cannot stand the allegations set against me; I consider this offensive,” the minister said.
Senator Palwasha responded that the minister became furious over being “just questioned.”
“I just asked a question whether you sought any benefit from it or not; it was not an allegation,” the senator clarified.
Aleem then reportedly said he would respond in kind if such “personal attacks” were made, adding that he did not wish to descend to what he described as a “lower level of discourse”.
Senator Palwasha, noting that the minister reacted angrily to legitimate parliamentary scrutiny, claimed he became “enraged” when asked to respond.
“You are angry at being questioned because you are guilty,” the senator stated.
“We will treat you the way we are treated,” Aleem responded. “If you speak about our person, we will also speak about yours,” he added.
As tempers flared, the committee chairman repeatedly attempted to defuse the situation and restore order.
“Mr chairman, is this any way to behave?” Palwasha questioned.
The senator then formally demanded a ruling on the minister’s conduct from the chairman of the committee, reiterating that her question was limited to transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
“Give a ruling on the conduct of the federal minister,” she demanded.
The senator also urged the committee chairman to intervene and issue a ruling on what she termed the minister’s inappropriate behaviour.
“A ruling should be given on this behaviour,” Palwasha reiterated.
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House following the argument, she said that if “a road funded by the public is being built, then why can we not question whether someone is trying to seek benefits for his private business?”
Expressing disappointment at the minister’s behaviour, she said it was the “collective demeanour of Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet”
She also maintained that she will bring this matter to her party’s senior leadership.
Senator Bilal Ahmed Khan Mandokhail, a committee member, said that while ministers are routinely questioned in committees, the exchange was “inappropriate”.
He added that after the chairman’s intervention, the minister offered an apology, which Senator Palwasha declined to accept.