Nawaz Sharif fails to inject election fever in his party cadres

By Tariq Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, June 16: PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif on Thursday attended the first election related public meeting of his party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but his speech focused more on the situation in Pakistan and less on election in AJK.

The public meeting, with more than 6000 participants, was held in a stadium in Kotli, the hometown of former AJK premier Sardar Sikandar Hayat who presided it over

“I am in love with Azad Kashmir and the situation here compelled me to launch PML-N in AJK,” Mr Sharif said and asked the electorate to vote for the candidates, bearing the (election) symbol of tiger.

“We have to get our rights as a tiger which is a brave symbol and has now come to AJK. You have to vindicate us,” he said.

He announced that if his party came to power in Pakistan he would construct an Islamabad like motorway in AJK as well.

Unlike expectations Mr Sharif could not go into details that why he had launched his party in AJK and why the Kashmiris should vote for it, something which the organisers would have wanted from him in order to inject election fever in their constituents.

Instead, Mr Sharif’s address revolved around his alleged achievements as prime minister and repercussions of his deposition by the Pervez Musharraf led military generals.

“Pakistan was making progress in our government, ahead of India in the field of economic and competing it in the field of defence,” he said, claiming that had his government not been deposed, Kashmir problem would have been resolved by now.

Mr Sharif recalled that after he made Pakistan a nuclear state, the then Indian premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Lahore by bus and stated that India wanted to resolve all issues, including Kashmir, at the negotiating table.

“In today’s world issues are not resolved through talks but General Musharraf and three other fellow conspirators – Gen Mahmood, Gen Javed and Gen Aziz, sabotaged our efforts by launching a misadventure of Kargil,” he said.

The PML-N leader said Pakistan was not made by Quaid-e-Azam for breaking law and constitution but here not only the constitution was breached but the person who breached it (Gen Musharraf) was given guard of honour and gallantry awards.

"I have come into the field to make good of the wrongs the country is in today," he said.

The participants and critics were in a fix as to what was the real purpose of the much hyped visit – to vindicate Mr Sharif’s hawkish politics in Pakistan at the moment or create a support base for his newly launched political party in AJK.

He did not make any mention of the ruling Muslim Conference and its alleged bad governance or the AJK chapter of Peoples Party which enjoys blessings of the central government.

In his earlier visit in December last year, when he had formally launched his party in AJK, Mr Sharif had also failed to make a relevant speech and had instead targeted the MQM, leading to a unpleasant war of words between the two sides.

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