GUJRAT: In an apparent response to the relentless criticism by PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday asked him to abolish ‘private jails’ of the feudal elite in Sindh and secure the release of the women and children allegedly incarcerated in these dungeons before talking about ‘political prisoners’ in the country.

These remarks were made by the former prime minister during a political gathering in Mandi Bahauddin on Thursday.

It may be noted that earlier this week, the PPP chairperson had warned that Nawaz Sharif’s politics of revenge would badly harm the country and its economy if he were voted to power again.

According to Shehbaz Sharif, “…there was not a single political prisoner in Pakistan during the stint of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from 2013 to 2018”.

PML-N president says there were no ‘political prisoners’ during Nawaz’s govt

Without naming the PPP leader, the PML-N president said: “I ask that kind man to eliminate personal jails by getting the oppressed persons free from these jails, which even a police officer and assistant commissioner have also failed to do.”

During the rally, Mr Shehbaz said the PML-N government would bring revolution into the lives of people living in rural areas by giving small loans to farmers and the youth to help them “establish small factories to produce agricultural products”.

Mr Sharif said Pakistan did not have enough oil and gas reserves to become self-sufficient, but the country had the human resources in the form of a large youth population which could be equipped with vocational education and IT skills to harness their potential.

Shehbaz Sharif said when the PML-N took over the country in 2013, there had been load shedding of up to 20 hours, which damaged the agricultural and industrial sectors. He added Nawaz Sharif “worked hard and successfully inducted at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity into the national grid by 2017. This accelerated growth in agricultural and industrial sectors”.

He claimed when the country was progressing towards stability and growth, Nawaz Sharif was thrown out of power through a ‘conspiracy to stop the country’s progress’.

He said that the PML-N government established a large number of educational institutions and hospitals and also gave laptops to the students. He added that students were provided scholarships of Rs20 billion, and free education was ensured to children in south Punjab and farmers were given fertilisers and electricity for tube-wells through a subsidised package.

He said the road infrastructure was not only improved but it was also expanded across Punjab. He claimed that a modern university and a big hospital in Mandi Bahauddin would be established if his party was voted to power in the February 8 polls.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2024