'The real issue is her rising popularity': Marriyum defends Maryam amid criticism over jet use, terrorism remarks

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News Desk. (2026, September 12). 'The real issue is her rising popularity': Marriyum defends Maryam amid criticism over jet use, terrorism remarks. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2029353/the-real-issue-is-her-rising-popularity-marriyum-defends-maryam-amid-criticism-over-jet-use-terrorism-remarks

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Dawn · collected 2026-09-12 · by News Desk

Quick Summary

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb defended Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz against criticism over her use of a government jet for personal travel and remarks about terrorism threats from neighboring provinces. Aurangzeb stated that the real issue is Maryam's rising popularity, not the specific incidents. She also criticized Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan for derogatory comments made during an assembly session discussing Maryam’s statements, calling his rhetoric sexist and unbecoming of a Pashtun tradition.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-12, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb defended Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Saturday amid criticism over Nawaz's use of a government jet for a private trip to London and her controversial remarks about terrorism threats from neighboring provinces. Aurangzeb stated, "The issue these days is not the plane or Maryam Nawaz’s statement; the real issue is with Maryam Nawaz’s performance and her rising popularity." Nawaz had traveled to London last week to attend her daughter Mahnoor's graduation ceremony and was criticized for using a government aircraft. The Punjab government asserts that Nawaz covered all expenses of the trip. In response, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed a majority resolution seeking action against Nawaz under Article 6 of the Constitution due to her comments on terrorism threats from neighboring provinces. During the assembly session, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan made derogatory and sexist remarks about Nawaz and Information Minister Azma Bokhari.

Written for “Maryam's Popularity Controversy” on 2026-10-27, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Maryam's Popularity Controversy
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Dawn
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 2 of 14 📰 publisher trust 72
“The articles describe different defenses and timespans in support of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's use of an official jet, indicating they cover separate incidents or responses to criticism.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
72/100
Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2274 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

News Desk
316 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Disinformation and misleading narratives will neither obscure the threat posed by the terrorist networks operating from Afghan territory nor absolve the Afghan Taliban regime of its responsibility to prevent Afghan soil from being used to plan and launch attacks against Pakistan,” the FO said, adding that attacks emanating from Afghan soil had claimed more than 3,500 casualties in 2026.
🔮 He said that if there were cases against Afridi, action would be taken against him and he would be indicted.
🔮 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Sunday that the government would be distributing 500,000 chromebooks to students across the country over the course of two years.
🔮 “Attempts to portray Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and necessary defensive measures as hostility towards Afghanistan will neither deflect attention from the issue nor resolve it,” it stressed.
🔮 PTI on Saturday clarified that MNA Junaid Akbar remains the party’s provincial president, but Senator Noorul Haq Qadri will preside over the party meetings in the former’s absence.
🔮 The president is currently on a three-day visit to Germany, having departed on Thursday, as the two countries are set to mark the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
🔮 “The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” King Abdullah II said in a post on X. “We will strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation.”
🔮 He expressed hope that the new proposed price would help farmers cover their production costs and earn profit.
🔮 The people of Balochistan have consistently rejected those who shed blood in their name, and they will see through this deception as well,” it said.
🔮 Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir has said the armed forces will continue the counterterrorism campaign against Indian sponsored terrorsts groups “to the fullest”, vowing to “hit them hard wherever they are,” the military’s media wing said on Friday.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by News Desk
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 316 articles by News Desk →

Topics

Lahore London PTI Punjab the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly

Subjects

Maryam PERSON · 5× Punjab GPE · 4× Aurangzeb PERSON · 3× PTI ORG · 3× Shafi Jan PERSON · 3× Azma Bokhari PERSON · 2× Jan PERSON · 2× London GPE · 2× Maryam Nawaz PERSON · 2× Maryam Nawaz’s PERSON · 2×

Narrative

The remarks were widely panned, with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday passing a majority resolution seeking action against her under Article 6 of the Constitution over the remarks, after suspending the day’s agenda. However, during the assembly session, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan had resorted to making derogatory and sexist remarks about the Punjab chief minister and Information Minister Azma Bokhari.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-12
🔮 “The issue these days is not the plane or Maryam Nawaz’s statement; the real issue is with Maryam Nawaz’s performance and her rising popularity,” Aurangzeb said in a post on X. She said that it had already been made clear that CM Maryam would bear the expenses of her visit to London.

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday defended Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz amid recent criticism of her use of a government jet for a private visit and her remarks on the province facing a terrorism threat from neighbouring provinces. asserted
Aurangzeb → defend → provinces
“The issue these days is not the plane or Maryam Nawaz’s statement; the real issue is with Maryam Nawaz’s performance and her rising popularity,” Aurangzeb said in a post on X. She said that it had already been made clear that CM Maryam would bear the expenses of her visit to London. asserted
Maryam → rise → London
The chief minister had travelled to London last week to attend the graduation ceremony of her daughter, Mahnoor, and returned to Lahore on Wednesday. asserted
minister → travel → Wednesday
The Punjab government insists the CM bore all expenses of the trip. asserted
CM → insist → trip
The development had followed CM Maryam’s remarks that Punjab faced a greater security threat from “neighbouring provinces than from neighbouring countries”. asserted
Punjab → follow → countries
The remarks were widely panned, with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday passing a majority resolution seeking action against her under Article 6 of the Constitution over the remarks, after suspending the day’s agenda. However, during the assembly session, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan had resorted to making derogatory and sexist remarks about the Punjab chief minister and Information Minister Azma Bokhari. asserted
Jan → pan → minister
Aurangzeb said on Saturday that those using CM Maryam’s statement to “spread hatred among the provinces and division in the nation” should apologise to the public. asserted
those → say → public
Criticising Jan’s remarks, she said his “cheap rhetoric” was in line with the PTI and its leadership’s “detestable tradition of using foul language against women”. asserted
rhetoric → criticise → women
“Unfortunately, these elements have been imposed on KP who are not even aware of the traditions of the proud Pashtuns who respect their mothers, sisters and daughters,” she said. asserted
she → impose → mothers
“Terrorists blow human bodies to pieces with guns and suicide jackets, and their facilitators use language as a weapon to insult humans, especially women,” Aurangzeb said. asserted
Aurangzeb → blow → humans
Meanwhile, the KP information minister was also criticised for his remarks against CM Maryam and Bokhari. asserted
minister → criticise → Maryam
PML-N’s Samar Haroon Bilour reacted to the comments on X, saying: “I wonder what Shafi Jan’s mother will be thinking about her son tonight.” asserted
mother → react → son
Journalist Asad Ali Toor termed the PTI an “expert of self-goals”. asserted
Toor → term → goals
He said that Jan had given a “disgusting statement” against Bokhari when CM Maryam and the PML-N was under pressure. asserted
Maryam → say → pressure
Shafi Jan should immediately render an unconditional apology not only to Azma Bokhari but also to all Pakistani women!” he said. asserted
he → render → women
“Basically these guys are raised in an environment where respect for women is not even norm, they treat women like a commodity and look down upon them.. asserted
they → raise → them
shameless fellow,” said former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry. asserted
Chaudhry → say → ?
Meher Bano Qureshi, the daughter of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said: “An apology is due. asserted
apology → say → Qureshi
There is a lot to criticise when it comes to Maryam Nawaz and her coterie of hand maidens but the unparliamentary and ungentlemanly language used is wrong and deeply offensive. asserted
language → be → maidens
I would urge my brother Shafi Jan to retract his words and tender an apology,” she said. asserted
she → urge → apology
“Of course, the kind of filth spewed in Punjab Assembly is just reflective of their own upbringing. asserted
kind → spew → upbringing
We should not and must not stoop to their level,” she said. asserted
she → stoop → level
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