She said that blocking major roads in KP does not affect Punjab’s economy but instead damages KP’s own economic activity
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Photo: X
GUJRAT:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Monday lambasted the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, accusing it of leaving the province “in the stone age” as Punjab moves forward with technology-driven development initiatives.
Speaking at a laptop distribution ceremony at a university in Gujrat, Maryam contrasted what she described as Punjab’s forward-looking policies with stagnation in KP, saying students in Punjab now benefit from Honhaar scholarships, laptops, Parwaz card, green buses and technical training programmes.
“So there is Honhaar here, and excitement there, but it is nothing to be happy about,” she said, adding that she was deeply disturbed that “people in KP were still living in the stone age”.
Maryam alleged that the PTI government, which she said has been ruling KP for the past 13 years, had failed to introduce meaningful development initiatives.
“They don’t know what development is. They don’t realize that Honhaar scholarships also exist if you don’t have the resources for their child’s studies,” she said.
“They don’t know that you have to have a gadget or a laptop or an iPad or a computer in your hands to meet global standards in today’s age.”
Indirectly referring to PTI’s long tenure in the province, she noted that the public there “doesn’t even know what development is” and acknowledged that the KP government’s response to every need was to provide “awareness”.
She further maintained that blocking major roads in KP does not affect Punjab’s economy but instead damages KP’s own economic activity.
During the event, Maryam played archived video clips of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from his time in office. In the footage, the PTI founder could be heard threatening to remove televisions and air conditioners from PML-N leaders’ jail cells.
Reacting to that, Maryam said, “I swear by God that till today neither I nor Nawaz Sharif nor Shehbaz Sharif even thought of removing his AC or closing his food and TV.”
