FAISALABAD - Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif said on Friday the youth were with his party despite vicious propaganda, and they would play a key role in reemergence of the party as the leading political force of Pakistan.
The former PM was addressing a public gathering at historic Iqbal Park (Dhobi Ghat ground), where he asked the participants to raise their hands who were born on or after 1980. As a large number of the participants raised their hands, he said that clearly negated the propaganda that the youth were with some other political parties, he added.
He said he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the participants in the public meeting. He said, “I have reliable friends and colleagues in Faisalabad since 1980.” He particularly named Chaudhry Sher Ali, Abid Sher Ali, Talal Chaudhry, Mian Farooq and Rana Sanaullah and said they were still steadfast and refused to succumb to any pressure to change their allegiance.
He said that his tenure was marked with maximum facilitation to masses. All commodities were cheap and available to everyone during his tenure as the prime minister. He said gold was available at Rs. 50,000 per tola and parents did not face any problem in the marriage of their daughters. “At that time when we were fighting against the twin menace of terrorism and load-shedding, others were observing sit-in to achieve their ulterior motives,” he recalled.
Nawaz Sharif said people remembered those days when the PML-N government was sent packing. “If our rule would have continued, we would have been able to fight out poverty and unemployment,” he added. He said, “We are committed to weeding out unemployment while the previous rulers befooled masses by raising hollow slogans of providing 10 million jobs.”
He said that the PML-N would restart the development process where it was abandoned due to his ouster from Prime Minister’s House. He said more motorways would be established to facilitate people and link different parts of the country.
Earlier, commenting on the announcement of Shehbaz Sharif to provide metro bus service to Faisalabad, he said if the PMLN came to power, it would not only start metro bus service but also give a gift of orange line train to the city.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif termed Faisalabad the citadel of PML-N on Friday and said that enthusiasm of people clearly indicated that they love Nawaz Sharif from the core of their hearts.
Addressing a public gathering at Iqbal Park (Dhobi Ghat ground) here, he said PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif always considered Faisalabad as his second home, and when he was voted to power earlier, he launched major development projects for the city and transformed it into a dynamic city.
He said that he had visited Satiana Road in 1997 for construction of the road. He said he always remained committed to development of the city. He said he asked people whether they wanted metro or expressway, and they opted for an expressway, and Nawaz Sharif directed him to give the city what people were demanding. He termed the youth asset to the country and power of society, adding that they would be fully accommodated by providing the best quality education at their doorsteps.
“We would also offer scholarships and restart distribution of laptops among talented students, so that they could exploit their quality of head and heart to build Pakistan on modern lines,” he added. He promised to provide the city with metro bus service, and said that if the PML-N candidates would be voted to power from Faisalabad, the party would set up a state-of-the-art Arfa Kareem IT University in this city after forming its government.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Organiser and Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz urged people on Friday to vote the PMLN to power to put Pakistan on the growth trajectory.
During a public meeting at historical Dhobi Ghat ground (Iqbal Park) here, she said she was surprised by the massive gathering, adding that huge participation in the public meeting showed people love the PML-N, which had served them during its previous tenure.
She also saluted the commitment of Talal Chaudhry and appreciated the allegiance of Rana Sanaullah Khan to the party. She said, “We tagged him as ‘Hakeem Sanaullah’, who prudently tackled the situation by promoting unity among the PMLN cadres.” She said that when Rana Sanaullah was implicated in a fake drug-smuggling case, she went to see him. He was wearing a mask marked with the symbol of tiger. When asked, Rana Sana Ullah replied that if he was only 2 per cent with Nawaz Sharif, after that case he was turned into a man 1000 times with Nawaz Sharif because of oppressive and illegal act of the ruling party.
She said that the people of Faisalabad fully honored commitment of Rana Sanaullah by making the gathering a historic one. “It seems that people still love Nawaz Sharif, as he was always among them,” she added.
She said” we believe in the politics of service instead of indulging in insulting political opponents”. She said Nawaz Sharif was ousted from power thrice, but he never compromised over national solidarity and integrity.