• Ex-PM calls Azad Kashmir his second home; says 10 electric green buses to reach Muzaffarabad within days
• Maryam says stronger Pakistan means stronger Kashmir
• Criticises political rivals over development record
MUZAFFARABAD: Former prime minister and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday pledged a wide-ranging development package for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), while Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz promised to replicate her government’s flagship welfare and infrastructure initiatives in the region if the party was voted to power in the upcoming elections.
Addressing the PML-N’s first major election rally in Muzaffarabad amid a steady downpour, the father-daughter duo sought to contrast the party’s development record with that of its political rivals, while making a series of commitments ranging from transport and healthcare to education, housing and youth welfare.
Held at K.H. Khurshid Stadium, the event was attended by several federal ministers and PML-N candidates from the nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division, including the party’s regional president Shah Ghulam Qadir, who is contesting from two constituencies in Neelum Valley.
Mr Sharif recalled that during his previous tenure as Pakistan’s prime minister, he had proposed the construction of a motorway from Mansehra to Muzaffarabad and onward to Mirpur along the Jhelum River, describing it as a “unique and beautiful” project that would have transformed the region by improving connectivity and facilitating educational and healthcare infrastructure.
Declaring AJK his “second home”, Mr Sharif said his forefathers had migrated from Kashmir and he loved the region as much as any other part of Pakistan.
He said that if the PML-N secured victory in the elections, every major development initiative undertaken in Punjab would also be introduced in AJK.
Announcing what he described as an initial package, Mr Sharif said 10 electric green buses would reach Muzaffarabad within days, while 15 “clinics on wheels” would also be dispatched to provide healthcare services in remote villages.
Regretting that residents of mountainous areas had to face hardships in transporting critically ill patients to hospitals, he said he could not bear to see people dying on the way to treatment.
Referring to Imran Khan without naming him, Mr Sharif said the government that succeeded him had failed to continue the development agenda and had instead relied on “sloganeering” and “inflaming public sentiments”, resulting in lost opportunities for the region’s progress.
In a lighter moment, Mr Sharif joked that if the party succeeded in the elections, he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him prime minister of AJK.
He quickly clarified that he was joking but vowed to visit the region every three months to monitor implementation of the party’s election manifesto if he could not do so.
Maryam criticises opponents
Addressing the gathering, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who wore a black dress with the AJK flag draped over her shoulders as a dupatta, described herself as “Kashmiri by blood, heart, mind, ancestry and soul”, saying she had come to Muzaffarabad not as a guest but as someone returning to her ancestral home.
She said the relationship between Pakistan and Kashmir was “everlasting” and maintained that a stronger Pakistan would mean a stronger Kashmir.
Without naming PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who has addressed several election rallies in AJK in recent days, Ms Nawaz criticised political opponents for making allegations while their own party headed the incumbent government in the region.
“Some people have been coming here over the past few days, delivering speeches, making complaints and allegations. I want to remind them politely that the government here is your own,” she said.
She announced that her party would introduce Punjab’s electric green bus service, the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” housing scheme, the “Clean Punjab” sanitation model, the “Himmat Card” programme for persons with disabilities and an interest-free business loan scheme in AJK.
She also promised to establish quality educational institutions in the region, saying children in AJK deserved the same opportunities as those in Punjab. She announced 2,000 Honhaar scholarships and 5,000 laptops, adding that iPads and electric bikes would also be provided.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2026