MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday hit out at his opponents for their “politics of hatred and allegations” and said people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) “did not buy their propaganda” and instead gave overwhelming majority to the PML-N in elections here.

“Apart from us [PML-N leaders], many others also came here [during the election campaign] and tried to introduce here the negative politics they have been practising in Pakistan but I salute the people of Azad Kashmir because they did not buy their stuff,” he said while addressing a huge gathering of PML-N activists at a playground here.

It was Mr Sharif’s first public address following his return from London after an open-heart surgery in late May.

He told the audience that while the results were pouring in on Thursday night and it became clear that the PML-N had left the other parties far behind, he made up his mind that he would visit the AJK capital immediately.

“It was suggested that I should not fly today but tomorrow, but I responded that I cannot wait until tomorrow to pay tribute and express gratitude to my brothers and sisters in Azad Kashmir for their overwhelming support,” he said.

“You have achieved a feat which these people sitting here could not even imagine,” he told the audience while pointing to the PML-N leaders sharing the stage with him.

The prime minister said he was indebted to the Kashmiris for offering special prayers for him at every public meeting for his early recovery from surgery.

“Look, how much I was reviled by them,” he said of his opponents and added: “But I never responded [in kind] because I believe that in politics success does not come from sit-ins but from delivering something.”

Mr Sharif said the culture of negative politics propagated during the election campaign should not be allowed to flourish here. “While I am delivering a speech, I am neither criticising nor using foul language against anyone but talking about the development of Azad Kashmir.”

He claimed that the PML-N was “setting new records of development in Pakistan”, and this was being acknowledged every now and then by the world community.

“Pakistan has become a member of the emerging markets and it’s rapidly taking strides forward. The same progress will make its way, with the same speed, to Azad Kashmir,” he said, asking the youths to gear themselves up for a “revolution of development”.

The prime minister also paid tribute to the people of India-held Kashmir for rendering unparalleled sacrifices for freedom or merger of the disputed territory with Pakistan.

“While we are celebrating, we must also remember those martyrs who laid down their lives for the freedom movement,” he said. “Allah willing, no one can thwart that movement and it’s bound to succeed… You all know the way they are being beaten and killed. Our prayers are with them and we wait for the day when [occupied] Kashmir will become Pakistan.”

Mr Sharif vowed to lay a network of highways and motorways and build health and education facilities in AJK.

“When the PML-N government assumes office here, I will myself supervise its functions,” he said.

He also announced that he would get all the commitments made by the PML-N leaders during the election campaign fulfilled.

“You know me very well. In my heart and mind, there is no difference between Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. I am as much a Kashmiri as I am a Pakistani and as much a Pakistani as I am a Kashmiri,” he said.

He recalled that a few months ago people of Gilgit-Baltistan had given a two-thirds majority to the PML-N and the same result had been replicated by the AJK people on Thursday.

He said that over the last five years AJK had been hit hard by bad governance and the election results were the consequence.

“Those times will not return and I will ensure that every single penny of the state is spent judiciously,” he said.

While talking about the huge influx of tourists in Neelum valley, the prime minister specifically mentioned the unprecedented victory of PML-N secretary general Shah Ghulam Qadir from there. He also mentioned Chaudhry Moham­mad Saeed, who he said defeated Barrister Sultan Mahmood, the regional chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Referring to the PTI, he said their performance in the AJK elections was enough to suggest what kind of sit-ins and protests they would launch in Pakistan.

Mr Sharif ended his speech by pledging to continue supporting the people of India-held Kashmir in their struggle for freedom: “We will never leave them alone; we are with them.”

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016

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