Foundation Day: At flag hoisting ceremony, AJK premier absent

State’s president distributes gallantry medals among the heirs of martyred personnel

MUZAFFARABAD:

From over 30 office bearers, only two could spare time to attend the 67th Foundation Day flag-hoisting ceremony held at Police Lines ground in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

The elected representatives, who spend over Rs40 billion annually on non-development expenditure, could not spare even a few hours to join the president for the occasion.



AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan hoisted the flag and later distributed gallantry medals among the heirs of martyred personnel.

The police presented a president a guard of honour and displayed their training skills.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Azad Jammu and Kashmir Secretary General Shah Ghulam Qadir condemned the absence of the ministers and secretaries from the ceremony. He criticised the PPP-led state government, saying they have no interest in celebrating national days since they are minting money for the next elections.

PML-N Secretary General Shah Ghulam Qadir further said the PPP government has no agenda for prosperity and national integration.

He added that if the PPP government understood the importance of Foundation Day, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed would have been part of the ceremony.

Qadir further condemned the action saying the premier could have delayed his trip to Europe for Foundation Day, but chose otherwise. “The federal government is providing money for the development of AJK and the premier is spending it on foreign tours, which is unfortunate and unacceptable,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2014.