PESHAWAR - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that PML-N leaders are parting ways from Nawaz Sharif, and the government is, therefore, likely to collapse before time.
The PTI chief expressed these views while talking to media in Khanpur. He demanded that elections should be conducted within 90 days if the PML-N government is collapsed.
Imran also talked about environment and said lives of people in Punjab are in danger due to pollution. He said “We now have to determine where to build buildings and where to keep fields and forests.”
He claimed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planted 1.18 billion trees which no other government could do, and added that the government is fighting against timber mafia as well.
Pakistan can earn enough money through tourism that there will be no need to take loans, he said. Imran said rehabilitation and renovation of archaeological and heritage sites were helpful in promoting archaeological tourism and attracting foreign tourists to contribute to the provincial exchequer.
Speaking at a function held in connection with discovery of ruins of Mahatma Bhudda at Bhamala village in Haripur district on Wednesday, Khan said that peace had been restored in the province and international tourists could visit scenic places and archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Chief Secretary Azam Khan, Secretary Sports, Tourism, Archaeology and Youth Affairs Muhammad Tariq and a number of foreign envoys including those of Sri Lanka, Austria, Korea, Mauritania and other countries were present on the occasion.
Directorate of Archaeology and Tourism Department had jointly organised briefing on the discovery for foreign dignitaries. “Switzerland is a small country, but its budget is more than Pakistan which is earned from tourism sector,” the PTI chairman said. He praised the services and sacrifices of KP Police for restoration of peace and revival of tourism in the province.
Khan said, “Tourism had developed owing to restoration of peace as more and more foreign tourists are coming to Pakistan, especially KP, to visit serene places and heritage sites.” He said that ruins of Buddhism others existed in KP and followers of the religion in of China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Korea could come here to visit their worship places.
Briefing the dignitaries, Chief Secretary Azam Khan said that the KP government had dismantled encroachments near archaeological sites. He said that work was underway on rehabilitation and renovation of heritage sites in Swabi, Mardan, Bannu, Peshawar and elsewhere in KP to attract tourists and develop archaeological tourism on industry basis. He said that KP government had taken tangible steps for protection and preservation of the archaeological sites.
The Buddhism ruins are located in village Bhalama along Haro River and foothills of Murree, a colonial era town located on the Pir Panjal Range. It looks that Haro River and Murree range of mountains provided protection to the ruins of Buddhism from the outside attackers.
Bhamala was listed in national heritage in 1980 and nominated in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Bhamala is not only famous for across-shape stupa and monastery built dated back to 4th century CE but it was also a first destination for trade caravans of the Silk Route. It is vivid from the small votive stupas built along the Haro River on its both sides.
Bhamala stupa is an archaeological site and is also known as Bhamala Buddhist Complex. The first excavation of Bhamala site was started in early 1930-31 by Sir John Marshall during which the main cross-shape stupa and nineteen other small votive stupas and a number of monasteries were discovered.
However, the excavation of Bhamala ruins was restarted by the Archaeology Department of Hazara University in collaboration with Wisconsin University of United States in 2012-13. Keeping in view its importance, the KP Archaeology and Museum Department with cooperation of Hazara University launched digging of sites for discovery of ruins again in 2014, which continued till 2015-16.