‘Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab’: Nawaz Sharif kicks off election campaign

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday launched its election campaign for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) polls, with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz aiming at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her party’s ally in the federal government, for failing to resolve the region’s issues despite being in power there.

Addressing a public gathering in Muzaffarabad, Maryam promised to replicate Punjab’s development model in AJK, announcing a package of welfare and infrastructure initiatives, including the introduction of electric buses, mobile hospitals and social protection schemes, while urging voters to elect the PML-N in the July 27 legislative assembly elections.

Announcing what she described as “gifts” for the people of Muzaffarabad, the Punjab chief minister said 10 green electric buses would be provided for the AJK capital, while 15 “hospitals on wheels” mobile hospitals would be launched to improve healthcare services in remote areas.

“I am not here merely to make promises. I am here to present our performance over the last two years in Punjab,” she said, urging voters to compare the governance record of the PML-N with that of its political rivals.

Maryam said she regarded both AJK and IIOJK as her home and described herself as a Kashmiri “by blood, by heart, by soul and by ancestry.”

“This is my native city. Kashmir is our jugular vein. These valleys, these mountains and these brothers and sisters are mine,” she declared, paying tribute to the martyrs of Kashmir and reaffirming Pakistan’s support for the Kashmir cause.

She questioned why the long-awaited Kohala-Muzaffarabad motorway had not yet been completed and said the PML-N was committed to improving road infrastructure across AJK.

“If the people elect a PML-N government in AJK, we will change your destiny,” she said, adding that the development witnessed in Punjab could be replicated in the region.

Referring to the public transport system introduced in Punjab, Maryam said green electric buses had reached even tehsil headquarters, and similar projects would be implemented in AJK.

She criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), asking why the party had failed to address public issues despite being in government in AJK.

“Some people have been coming here over the past few days, delivering speeches, airing grievances, voicing complaints and levelling allegations. I want to remind them, in all sincerity, who they are accusing. The government here is their own,” she said.

Without naming former prime minister Imran Khan directly, she also referred to his past remarks regarding the numerical strength of political parties in the 2021 polls, saying political realities had changed because of the public’s support for the PML-N.

Highlighting Punjab’s welfare initiatives, Maryam said more than 400 children from AJK had received life-saving surgeries in Punjab hospitals. She added that over seven million people had been provided free medicines under the provincial healthcare programme.

She said the Punjab government had launched doorstep public service delivery through the “Maryam Ki Dastak” initiative, under which birth and other official certificates were being delivered to citizens at their homes. Similar governance reforms, she said, would be introduced in AJK.

The Punjab chief minister also highlighted several social welfare programmes, including the Nawaz Sharif Rashan Card under which deserving families receive monthly food assistance worth Rs3,000, and the Rehmat Card for widows providing annual financial assistance of Rs100,000.

She further announced that a “Himmat Card” would be introduced for persons with disabilities in AJK if the PML-N formed the next government.

Calling for greater economic opportunities, Maryam urged PM Shehbaz to extend interest-free loan schemes to AJK residents to promote entrepreneurship and employment.

She maintained that a strong Pakistan was essential for a strong AJK, saying the prosperity and stability of AJK were directly linked to Pakistan’s economic strength.

“Today, the issues marring Kashmir are because of that mistake,” she said.

Reiterating that Kashmir and Pakistan shared “unbreakable ties”, she said those who incited people to wield batons were “not friends”. “Nawaz Sharif and I want the young people to hold laptops and degrees instead,” she added.

She urged people to choose their representatives after comparing development in PML-N-governed regions with areas administered by other parties. Referring to her journey earlier in the day, she said development came to a halt where the Punjab government’s jurisdiction ended.

“In Punjab, where Nawaz Sharif’s government is in power, everything changes the moment the province’s boundaries end. The roads disappear, cleanliness disappears, development disappears, and public transport disappears. So what is the difference? The difference is Nawaz Sharif. The difference is the Pakistan Muslim League-N,” she said.

She said those whose own provinces had broken roads could not be expected to build roads in Azad Kashmir, while those who had failed to provide healthcare in their own provinces could not deliver medical facilities to the people of AJK.

She also alleged that resources in those provinces were lost to corruption and questioned how such governments could ensure that the people of Azad Kashmir received their due rights. Urging people to vote wisely, she added: “This is not just a decision about your vote; it is a decision about your destiny.”

In a political appeal to the electorate, Maryam said that regardless of who became the next prime minister of AJK, “the prime minister will have to adopt the Punjab government development model”, asserting that only the PML-N possessed the experience and capacity to deliver development projects.

She concluded by asking voters to support the PML-N in the upcoming elections, promising that the party would transform AJK through the same governance model that, she claimed, had brought visible improvements to Punjab.

‘Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab’: Nawaz Sharif

Earlier, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif described the region as his second home, saying it was as dear to him as Punjab.

“Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab,” Nawaz said, adding that there had been no discrimination in development projects across AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces.

The PML-N leader was accompanied by Maryam Nawaz and former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider on the stage.

Nawaz expressed a deep emotional attachment to the region, saying both AJK and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) were part of his identity.
“AJK and IIOJK are my homes,” he said. “Kashmir is my home, and the people of Kashmir are my own people.”

Expressing his desire to become the prime minister of AJK, Nawaz said he would request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him to the position if his party won the upcoming elections in the region.

“If you vote for the PML-N, I will come to AJK every three months and personally resolve people’s problems,” he said.

Nawaz highlighted development projects in Punjab and said similar initiatives would be introduced in AJK. He said he had instructed Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz that development work being carried out in Punjab should also be replicated in Muzaffarabad and other parts of AJK.

“On winning the AJK elections, we will bring every project here. Projects like those in Punjab will also be built in AJK,” he said, adding that motorway-style projects would also be developed in the region.

Lamenting the lack of development in the area, Nawaz said that while the rest of the country witnessed the construction of motorways and expressways, the road to Muzaffarabad had remained unchanged.

He said his government had proposed constructing a motorway from Mansehra to Muzaffarabad and then to Mirpur along the Jhelum River.

According to Nawaz, the motorway would have spurred development in the region, leading to the construction of roads, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities.

The PML-N supremo said he had doubled AJK’s budget during his previous tenure as prime minister and pledged to increase it tenfold if his party formed the government in the region.

“You know that Nawaz Sharif fulfils the promises he makes,” he said.

He also praised PM Shehbaz’s role in Punjab’s development and said Maryam was continuing those initiatives.

Nawaz announced that the Punjab government would provide 10 electric, air-conditioned green buses to Muzaffarabad, saying the buses would arrive within days.

He told the gathering that the buses were powered by electricity and equipped with air conditioning.

The PML-N supremo further said 15 “hospitals on wheels” would soon be deployed across AJK to provide healthcare services to residents of far-flung areas who lacked access to medical facilities in their vicinity.

Nawaz said it was deplorable that people in the valley had to carry sick patients on charpoys before transporting them to Islamabad for tertiary care. He said he had resumed development programmes for the region and planned to introduce the mobile hospital concept to save lives.

Referring to the party’s political history, Nawaz said the PML-N had repeatedly been removed from office despite delivering economic growth and development.

“We have suffered injustice many times. Whenever our government was removed, those who came afterwards damaged Pakistan and reversed the country’s progress,” he said.

The former prime minister maintained that the PML-N had a proven record of governance and development and asked voters to compare its performance with that of its political opponents.

He concluded by assuring the audience that the PML-N would bring modern transport, improved healthcare and sustained economic development to AJK, saying the region deserved the same opportunities and public services enjoyed by the people of Punjab.

Maryam criticises PPP for not solving issues despite being in govt in AJKWhile addressing the gathering,