LAHORE – PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday blamed PPP-led federal government for the country’s problems, claiming that the country was developing at a rapid pace when he himself was prime minister.
“The situation is bad, but I still have hope,” he said while speaking at a ceremony in Lahore for the distribution of laptops among Punjab University students. “I believe Pakistan will be on its feet again. Every Pakistani will have a laptop in their hands if we are elected to power.” Nawaz said the country was facing numerous challenges including loadshedding but expressed the hope that youth have potential to cope with this situation. “Seeing these shiny eyes of the students, I’m very much hopeful about Pakistan’s future which will be brighter by the grace of God,” Sharif hoped.
“I hope that that alike these students every Pakistani pupil will be using the laptop,” he said, assuring that the distribution was being carried out in fair and transparent manner.
Alluding to Imran Khan’s slogan of change, the PML-N chief asked the youth to not be trapped by the so-called slogans of change. He said if they wanted to see real change, they should look at the track record of PML-N.
“We always favoured a change through vote because a democratic set up is far better than the dictatorship and martial laws… We do not just talk about change. We are bringing the change… We are giving away laptops to the students instead of weapons. We will distribute 300 thousand more laptops in the next budget. If more money is invested in education then it will help nurture a revolutionary youth.”
He also criticised President Asif Ali Zardari over his alleged corruption. He said that four years ago Zardari had ‘forced’ PML-N to make a coalition government at federal level as well as in Punjab but when his party found that he (Zardari) was not mending his ways and was given to corruption, they immediately stopped supporting him and separated from the coalition government.
Nawaz Sharif also criticised former president Pervez Musharraf for overthrowing his government in 1999. He said that in Pakistan, dictatorships had been nurtured and promoted which not only divided the country but also impeded the growth of democracy. He said that Musharraf had arrested the judges and abrogated the constitution.
Nawaz said martial laws brought numerous damages to the country and they sown the seeds of hate among our people. He said frequent martial law and dictatorships kept us backward and now the country was facing multiple problems. “Our neighbouring country (India) is successful because of the continuity and consistency of democracy.”
The former prime minister said that he was fond of cricket and he too watched the Pakistan-Bangladesh match on Thursday, and was happy at Pakistan’s win. But during the math, he said, he was in a fix as to which team he should support because the Bengalis were also ‘our brothers once’. They were at the forefront of the struggle for Pakistan’s independence, he said, adding that former East Pakistanis played an active part during the 1965 war with India. Nawaz said that MM Alam, the former Pakistani fighter pilot of Bengali ethnicity who was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat, had torn the enemies’ jets to pieces during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.
On the occasion, PU Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran, PML-N leaders Zaeem Qadri, Khawaja Asif, Saad Rafique, Pervaiz Rashid, Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman and others were also present.