PTI information secretary for north Punjab crosses over to PML-N.
RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif hit back at Imran Khan over his criticism on his laptop scheme saying, “Should I have handed over the youth Kalashnikovs instead?”
If the present plight of the country was not a fault of President Asif Ali Zardari, then who is responsible for it, he asked.
Addressing rallies here on Thursday, he said that no ‘Qaroon’ can defeat the ‘Janoon’ of Pakistan Muslim League workers because the conscience of Pakistani voters cannot be bought with dollars and pounds. He said that elections could not be won with TV ads as winning hearts was the key to election success. He said people want the real change, which, he said, his party would bring about successfully.
Shahbaz said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s chief Imran Khan had become a spokesperson for Zardari and should “note that he will not be able to do ball tampering in politics”.
He said that people would not let the conspiracy hatched by ‘the bat and the arrow’ succeed on May 11.
Meanwhile, PTI secretary information for north Punjab and its senior leader in Rawalpindi, Peerzada Rahat Masood Quddusi, announced that he had joined the PML-N. Shahbaz visited his house and welcomed him for formally joining the PML-N. Quddusi said that PTI leadership was not taking political issues seriously and felt he was a misfit in the party.
Some other PTI leaders and former UC nazims, including Abdul Rashid, Haji Arshad and Rabia Basri, also announced they had joined the PML-N.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2013.
COMMENTS (4)
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@Ali Please see Punjab School Reforms and now 90% schools in Punjab have toilet and drinking water. You need to first read and then comment. Its easier to critisize without backing with facts
youth needs employment not laptops
Let me give you an example of why this is a waste of money and just politics In the early 2000s I worked closely with engineers, scientists etc at one of the best UK universities. I estimate that no more than 10% had their own laptops. They all had access to good labs with ample computers and that provided them with all the exposure they needed. Providing them with laptops would have been a waste of money.
What they all did have, and what Pakistan still lacks, is great grounding in maths, science etc. The Danish schools are 0.01 percent of what is needed. Improving school standards and teaching for those less then 18 years is what we need. But doing that isn't glamorous or a vote winner. Building a few symbolic schools and handing out laptops paid for with our taxes, and pretending you are doing us a favour is a vote winner.
How about spending the money on schools that have collapsing roofs no running water or sanitation or walls
How about on textbooks or better teachers? These laptops will not make any difference. But they do give the Sharifs a chance to boast. Fixing schools is hard and less glamorous but far more important.