GUJRANWALA, April 17: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said the government is working hard to make Pakistan strong and prosperous and, as such, is taking measures to promote agriculture and industry.

Speaking at a public meeting at Jinnah Stadium here on Wednesday, he said the opposition had exposed itself by opposing the government and referendum. It wanted to lead the country to destruction.

He explained the government would adopt both short- and long-term plans to develop agriculture and industry. He recalled that in the past the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan would distribute millions of rupees among big landlords but now his government had banned this practice and instead brought down the loan limit to Rs1 million, to be given to small farmers.

He said the government had allocated Rs12 billion for providing soft-term loans to small farmers, with a maximum of Rs60,000 having been disbursed. The government wanted to execute various projects, including dams for development of agriculture.

About unemployment he said it could be brought down or ended only when agriculture was developed to sustain urban areas and industrial units developed to sustain rural areas.

He said the government would compensate the people of Narowal in border areas who had suffered losses in the conflict between Pakistan and India.

Assuring the people that the holding of the referendum was absolutely legal and constitutional, Gen Musharraf appealed them to cast their vote in his favour on April 30. He accused the former rulers of looting the country and said his government would serve the people honestly. Referendum, he reiterated, was a part of democracy and those who were opposing it were not aware of the Constitution.

He said his government was working hard to resolve the Kashmir issue and added that the former governments had failed to raise it in the world forum because of their own interests. Pakistan was being declared a terrorist country but his government took bold steps to eliminate terrorism by joining the world.

The government would continue all the policies with the help of the people who were the real power, he said and added that his government had increased women’s quota at all levels to bring them into the mainstream. He urged Nazims and Naib Nazims to resolve the problems of the people.

He announced that a two-way G.T. Road, Gujranwala, would be built.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, district Nazim Fiaz Ahmad Chattha and others also spoke.