PM promises Kashmir uplift, if PPP elected

‘Govt will ensure free election, no cuts in the upcoming budget’.

MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani assured Kashmiris that their unprecedented sacrifices will not be in vain and they will witness ‘the dawn of freedom’ soon.

“I assure you that your martyrdoms for liberation will not prove futile,” he said while addressing a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) workers’ convention here on Saturday.

He said the PPP was founded on the basis of Kashmiri struggle for freedom and the party stands with Kashmiris politically and morally. The premier said Pakistanis are a responsible and honorable people who do not want their peace ruined by terrorists.

Referring to the allocation of funds, Gilani said no cuts will be imposed on AJK in the upcoming budget. Despite the financial crunch, no cuts were imposed on the state’s budget last year either, he said.

Gilani urged PPP AJK leaders to shun their differences for larger interests of the party and work towards winning the elections to the AJK legislative assembly that will be held in July.“I will come here again to congratulate you after you win the elections and form a PPP government,” he said, urging PPP supporters to vote their party into power if they wish to see further development in their area.

He also assured party workers that the federal government will ensure free and fair elections in the state.

The prime minister handed over a cheque worth Rs6 million to president central press club Wahid Iqbal Butt for the development of media.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2011.