Will ask PM to make me AJK premier: Nawaz

Maryam vows to replicate Punjab model

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

Addressing a PML-N election rally in Muzaffarabad, Nawaz said he had a deep affection for both Azad Kashmir and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), adding that despite extensive infrastructure development across Pakistan, AJK had failed to receive similar attention.

"Motorways, highways and expressways have been built across Pakistan, but the same road that existed 30 years ago still serves Muzaffarabad. Why has no 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 motorway project linking Mansehra, Muzaffarabad and Mirpur along the Jhelum River.

He hailed the project as one of Pakistan's finest and most unique development schemes and said it was PML-N's gift to the people of AJK.

Nawaz said completion of the project would have transformed the region by creating a network of roads, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, bringing 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 premier said he had asked Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to bring a "gift" for the people of Kashmir, just as guests traditionally bring sweets or fruit when visiting someone's home.

"Our programme is extensive. If the PML-N forms the government here, we will complete every project we have promised," he said.

Nawaz said he wished to ask PM Shehbaz Sharif to make him the prime minister of AJK if the party emerged victorious in the elections.

"If I become the prime minister here, we will resolve all the problems and difficulties facing Azad Kashmir," he said.

He added that even if he did not become AJK prime minister, he would instruct the party's local leadership to ensure 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 within the next few days, while electric buses would soon begin operating in the city.

He also announced that 15 mobile hospitals would be provided to AJK, saying the initiative would improve healthcare 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 way. This should not be the case," he said.

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

"Had those projects continued, they would not only have been completed but expanded further. We have lost a great deal of time, and that deeply saddens me," he said.

He said no more time should be wasted in ensuring the prosperity and development of AJK, alleging 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 Muzaffarabad would one day surpass Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta in terms of development and prosperity.

 

Punjab development model in AJK

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz aimed at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her party's ally in the federal government, for failing to resolve the region's issues despite being in power there.

Addressing the public gathering, 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 elect the PML-N in the July 27 legislative assembly elections.

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

"I am not here merely to make promises. I am here to present our performance over the last two years in Punjab," she said, urging voters to compare the governance record of the PML-N with that of its political rivals.

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

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

She questioned why the long-awaited Kohala-Muzaffarabad motorway had not yet been 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 development witnessed in Punjab could be replicated in the region.

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

 

'PPP's failure'

Maryam also slammed the PPP, asking why the party had failed to address public issues despite being in government in AJK.

"Some people have been coming here over the past few days, delivering speeches, airing grievances, voicing complaints and levelling allegations. I want to remind them, in all sincerity, who they are accusing. The government here is their own," she said.

Without naming former prime minister Imran Khan directly, she also referred to his past remarks regarding the numerical strength of political parties in the 2021 polls, saying political realities had changed because of the public's 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 hospitals. She added that over seven million people had been provided free medicines under the provincial healthcare programme.

She said the Punjab government had launched doorstep public service delivery through the "Maryam Ki Dastak" initiative, under which birth and other official certificates were being delivered to citizens at their homes. Similar governance 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 providing 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 PM 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, saying the prosperity and stability of AJK were directly linked to Pakistan's economic strength.

"Today, the issues marring Kashmir are because of that mistake," she said.

Reiterating that Kashmir and Pakistan shared "unbreakable ties", she said those who incited people to wield batons were "not friends". "Nawaz Sharif and I want the young people to hold laptops and degrees instead," she added.

She urged people to choose their representatives after comparing development in PML-N-governed regions with areas administered by other parties. Referring to her journey earlier in the day, she said development came to a halt where the Punjab government's jurisdiction ended.

"In Punjab, where Nawaz Sharif's government is in power, everything changes the moment the province's boundaries end. The roads disappear, cleanliness disappears, development disappears, and public transport disappears. So what is the difference? The difference is Nawaz Sharif. The difference is the Pakistan Muslim League-N," she said.

She said 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 deliver medical facilities to the people of AJK.

She also alleged that resources in those provinces were lost to corruption and questioned how such governments could ensure that the people of Azad Kashmir received their due rights. Urging people to vote wisely, she added: "This is not just a decision about your vote; it is a decision about your destiny."

In a political appeal to the electorate, Maryam said that regardless of who became the next prime minister of AJK, "the prime minister will have to adopt the Punjab government development model", asserting that only the PML-N possessed the experience and capacity to deliver development projects.

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

 

Unity with Shah Ghulam Qadir

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif made a symbolic display of party unity during the public rally by inviting AJK PML-N President Shah Ghulam Qadir onto the stage and raising his hand before thousands of party workers and supporters chanting, "Nawaz Sharif Zindabad."

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

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

Political observers viewed Nawaz Sharif's public gesture towards Shah Ghulam Qadir as a significant message of party cohesion at a crucial stage of the election campaign.