NAROWAL: President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday said the country sacrificed 70,000 lives to put an end to terrorism.

“Pakistan was in the grip of terrorism, but its people put an end to it with the cooperation of the army and at the cost of thousands of lives,” the president said at the inauguration ceremony of National Sports City here.

“History shows that only those nations progressed where people played in playgrounds. Games inculcate positive thinking among the youth and develop positive activities.”

He said that there was no dearth of talent in Pakistan and the government was constructing grounds to end social evils.

The government was also planning a positive future for the youth, and a project like the National Sports City here was nowhere to be seen in Pakistan.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal also spoke on the occasion, and thanked the president for visiting his hometown of Narowal. On the occasion, a friendly match was also played between PCB Eleven and President Eleven.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018