MIRPUR (AJK) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday strongly denounced the fresh wave of state terrorism against innocent Kashmiris in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian forces and said Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom cannot be suppressed through the brutal force and coercive tactics.

Addressing the first-ever public gathering in Muzaffarabad, Nawaz Sharif said the people of Azad Kashmir had rejected negative politics by giving the thumping majority to PML-N in the elections.

Referring to Imran Khan’s ‘dharna politics’ the prime minister said success can only be achieved by serving the people instead of staging sit-ins. He said PML-N would bring about a revolution of speedy development and progress in AJK. He said there would be a network of roads, highways, motorways, rail tracks and hospitals across Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Referring to Kashmiris’ struggle in Held Kashmir, Nawaz Sharif said the independence struggle cannot be suppressed by using the brutal force. He affirmed a day would come when Kashmir would accede to Pakistan.

Speaking on this occasion, PML-N AJK President and former prime minister, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, said Azad Jammu and Kashmir would be brought to the track of speedy progress and prosperity under the visionary leadership of Nawaz Sharif.

He thanked the AJK people for reposing full confidence in PML-N, enabling it to have a landslide success in the elections held in free, fair and most transparent manner. Haider said AJK would be brought back on the track of good governance soon after coming to power.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was accorded a rousing reception when he reached Muzaffarabad. He was received by AJK PML-N President Raja Farooq Haider, Secretary General Shah Ghulam Qadir, Central Secretary Finance and member-elect of AJK Legislative Assembly, Ch Muhammad Saeed, other leaders of the party and senior officers of the bureaucracy.

APP adds: Addressing a public gathering at the university ground, the prime minister thanked the AJK people for supporting his party and enabling it to win 32 seats out of 41 of the Legislative Assembly.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Kashmir Affairs Minister Barjees Tahir and Special Assistant to PM Asif Kirmani accompanied the prime minister. Sharif arrived here the very next day of his arrival in Islamabad after his recovery from the open heart surgery in London.

Referring to the defeat of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Barrister Sultan by Chaudhry Saeed, Nawaz Sharif said the AJK people had defeated the mainstream leaders of the opposition parties,

He also laughed off the much-hyped mass movement announced by the PTI against his government, saying one could guess what the scale of that movement would be. “They will launch the movement only to the size of what they got in the AJK general elections, just two seats whereas PML-N got 32,” the prime minister said with a smiling face.

Nawaz Sharif told the charged gathering that exemplary development would be carried out in AJK during the next five years. PML-N’s would-be government was going to develop a network of motorways and highways besides spending huge amounts on education and health sectors.

The prime minister also appreciated his team, including Pervaiz Rashid, Asif Kirmani, Barjis Tahir, Raja Farooq Haider and local party leaders, for successful electioneering. He said the opposition parties heavily criticised him during the election campaign, but he did not respond to anyone.

“Performance, not sit-ins, brings success in politics. Thanks God, we are setting a new record of development in Pakistan, which is being evidenced by the world. Pakistan has joined the emerging markets,” the prime minister remarked.

Amid the slogans of “Dekho Dekho Kon Aya, Sher Aya Sher Aya”, “Mian De Naaray Wajjan Ge” and others, Prime Minister Sharif said the AJK people had pleased him by giving PML-N the gift of two-thirds majority.

He said the development being witnessed in Pakistan would now change the fate of AJK as a new era of progress was about to begin there.

The prime minister also thanked the activists of Muslim Students Federation and the youth wing of his party for their dedicated efforts to help the party win a thumping victory in the elections. He assured the newly elected MLAs of fulfilIing all the commitments they had made to their electorates.

Nawaz Sharif said he never discriminated between Pakistan and AJK and recalled that the PML-N had recently obtained two-thirds majority in the elections of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.

He said the AJK people had faced massive corruption and malfunctioning in the past and the result of this election was reaction to that malpractice. “It will not happen again. Every penny will be accounted for. I myself will oversee the spending),” the prime minister asserted.

The prime minister said: “At this moment of celebration, we should not forget the oppressed people of Indian Occupied Kashmir who have been sacrificing their lives for their freedom.”

|No one can deter their movement. This will meet success. They are being killed. We are awaiting the day when Kashmir will become Pakistan,” the prime minister said.

 He said the people of Pakistan were with their brethren of Occupied Kashmir and would never give up their support.

Prime Minister Sharif said his government would expand his government’s health scheme from Muzaffarabad to all the cities of AJK to ensure free health treatment to the poor people.

In his address, AJK PML-N President Raja Farooq Haider hoped AJK would achieve progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Sharif.

Noreen Arif, a female MLA-elect, said the Nawaz Sharif government had introduced several projects for the uplift of youth in Pakistan and requested him to launch such projects in AJK as well.