Will ask PM to make me AJK premier: Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to revive development projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and said that if his party won the upcoming elections, he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make him AJK prime minister so that he could personally oversee the region’s development.

Addressing a PML-N election rally in Muzaffarabad, Nawaz said he had deep affection for both Azad Kashmir and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), adding that despite extensive infrastructure development across Pakistan, AJK had not received similar attention.

“Highways, highways and expressways have been built across Pakistan, but the same road that existed 30 years ago still serves Muzaffarabad. Why hasn’t a highway been built from Kohala to Muzaffarabad?” he asked.

The former prime minister said that during his tenure when Raja Farooq Haider was the AJK prime minister, he had approved a highway project connecting Mansehra, Muzaffarabad and Mirpur along the Jhelum river.

Hailing the project as one of Pakistan’s finest and most unique development projects, he said it was PML-N’s gift to the people of AJK.

Nawaz said the completion of the project would have transformed the region by creating a network of roads, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, which would bring widespread prosperity.

He said he had never discriminated between AJK and Pakistan’s provinces, including Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

“For me, Azad Kashmir is as dear as Punjab. It is my second home. My ancestors migrated from Kashmir,” he said.

The former prime minister said he had asked Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to bring a “gift” to the people of Kashmir, just as guests traditionally bring sweets or fruits when visiting someone’s home.

“Our program is comprehensive. If PML-N forms the government here, we will complete every single project we have promised,” he said.

Nawaz said he wanted to ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make him the prime minister of AJK if the party won the election.

“If I become the prime minister here, we will solve all the problems and difficulties that Azad Kashmir is facing,” he said.

He added that even if he did not become the AJK Prime Minister, he would instruct the party’s local leadership to ensure the implementation of the party manifesto and personally visit Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot and other cities every three months, accompanied by the Prime Minister, to monitor progress.

Referring to development initiatives announced by the Punjab government for AJK, Nawaz said 10 green buses would arrive in Muzaffarabad in the next few days, while electric buses would soon start plying in the city.

He also announced that 15 mobile hospitals would be made available to AJK, saying the initiative would improve health services in remote areas.

“It is unfortunate that when someone falls ill here, they still have to be carried on a charpoy to the roadside before being transported to Islamabad. Some even die on the road. This should not be the case,” he said.

Nawaz said the projects initiated during his tenure, including the highway scheme, remained incomplete because his government was unable to complete them.

“Had those projects continued, they would not only have been completed but expanded further. We have lost a lot of time and that makes me deeply sad,” he said.

He said no more time should be wasted in ensuring AJK’s prosperity and development, claiming that the governments that succeeded him had failed to deliver, relying instead on slogans and emotional rhetoric while damaging Pakistan.

“If we return to power, we will make up for all that has been lost,” he said.

The former prime minister said it was his wish and prayer that one day Muzaffarabad would surpass Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta in terms of development and prosperity.

Punjab development model in AJK

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz hit out at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her party’s ally in the federal government, for failing to address the region’s problems despite being in power there.

Addressing the public assembly, Maryam promised to replicate Punjab’s development model in AJK, announcing a package of welfare and infrastructure initiatives, including the introduction of electric buses, mobile hospitals and social protection schemes, while urging voters to choose the PML-N in the July 27 legislative elections.

Announcing “gifts” to the people of Muzaffarabad, Punjab’s chief minister said 10 green electric buses would be provided to the AJK capital, while 15 “hospitals on wheels” mobile hospitals would be launched to improve healthcare in remote areas.

“I am not here just to make promises. I am here to present our achievements over the last two years in Punjab,” she said, urging voters to compare PML-N’s governance record with that of its political rivals.

Maryam said she considered both AJK and IIOJK her home and described herself as a Kashmiri “by blood, by heart, by soul and by ancestry.”

“This is the city of my birth. Kashmir is our jugular vein. These valleys, these mountains and these brothers and sisters are mine,” she declared, paying tribute to Kashmir’s martyrs and reaffirming Pakistan’s support for the Kashmir cause.

She questioned why the much-awaited Kohala-Muzaffarabad expressway was yet to be completed and said the PML-N was committed to improving road infrastructure across AJK.

“If the people elect a PML-N government in AJK, we will change your destiny,” she said, adding that the developments in Punjab could be replicated in the region.

Referring to the public transport system introduced in Punjab, Maryam said that green electric buses had reached even the tehsil headquarters and similar projects would be implemented in AJK.

‘PPP failure’

Maryam also criticized the PPP and asked why the party had failed to resolve public issues despite being in government in AJK.

“Some people have come here over the last few days and have been making speeches, airing grievances, making complaints and making accusations. I want to remind them in all sincerity who they are accusing. The government here is their own,” she said.

Without mentioning former Prime Minister Imran Khan directly, she also referred to his earlier remarks about the numerical strength of political parties in the 2021 polls and said the political realities had changed due to public support for the PML-N.

Highlighting Punjab’s welfare initiatives, Maryam said more than 400 children from AJK had received life-saving surgeries in Punjab’s hospitals. She added that over seven million people had received free medicines under the provincial health programme.

She said the Punjab government had launched doorstep delivery of government services through the “Maryam Ki Dastak” initiative, under which birth certificates and other official certificates were delivered to citizens at their homes. Similar government reforms, she said, would be introduced in AJK.

The Punjab Chief Minister also highlighted several social welfare programmes, including the Nawaz Sharif Rashan Card, under which deserving families receive monthly food assistance worth Rs3,000, and the Rehmat Card for widows, which provides annual financial assistance of Rs100,000.

She further announced that a “Himmat Card” would be introduced for persons with disabilities in AJK if the PML-N formed the next government.

Calling for greater economic opportunities, Maryam urged Prime Minister Shehbaz to extend interest-free loan schemes to AJK residents to promote entrepreneurship and employment.

She maintained that a strong Pakistan was essential for a strong AJK and said that the prosperity and stability of AJK was directly linked to Pakistan’s economic strength.

“Today the problems marring Kashmir are because of that mistake,” she said.

Reiterating that Kashmir and Pakistan shared “unbreakable bonds”, she said those who incited people to use sticks were “not friends”. “Nawaz Sharif and I want the youth to have laptops and degrees instead,” she added.

She urged people to elect their representatives after comparing the developments in PML-N-ruled regions with areas administered by other parties. Referring to her trip earlier in the day, she said development stalled where the Punjab government’s jurisdiction ended.

“In Punjab, where Nawaz Sharif’s government is in power, the moment the provincial borders end, everything changes. Roads disappear, cleanliness disappears, development disappears and public transport disappears. So what is the difference? The difference is Nawaz Sharif. The difference is Pakistan Muslim League-N,” she said.

She said that those whose own provinces had broken roads could not be expected to build roads in Azad Kashmir, while those who had failed to provide healthcare in their own provinces could not provide medical facilities to the people of AJK.

She also claimed that resources in these provinces were being lost due to corruption and questioned how such governments could ensure that the people of Azad Kashmir got their due rights. She urged people to vote wisely, adding: “This is not just a decision about your vote; it’s a decision about your destiny.”

In a political appeal to voters, Maryam said that whoever became the next prime minister of AJK, “the prime minister will have to adopt the development model of the Punjab government”, asserting that only the PML-N had the experience and capacity to deliver development projects.

She concluded by asking voters to support the PML-N in the upcoming elections and promised that the party would transform AJK through the same model of governance that she claimed had brought visible improvements to Punjab.

Unity with Shah Ghulam Qadir

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif made a symbolic show of party unity during the public meeting by inviting AJK PML-N president Shah Ghulam Qadir on stage and raising his hand before thousands of party workers and supporters chanted, “Nawaz Sharif Zindabad.”

The move, witnessed by a charged gathering at the Khurshid Hassan Khurshid Stadium, was widely seen as a confirmation of Nawaz Sharif’s confidence in Shah Ghulam Qadir’s leadership and an endorsement of the party’s AJK leadership ahead of the AJK Legislative Assembly elections on 27 July.

The event marked one of the party’s biggest public gatherings of the election campaign and was attended by senior PML-N leaders, election candidates, parliamentarians and party workers from across the Muzaffarabad division.

Political observers viewed Nawaz Sharif’s public gesture towards Shah Ghulam Qadir as a significant message of party unity at a crucial time in the election campaign.