LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the country could not be made Pakistan of Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah without eliminating prejudices, intolerance and extremism from the society.
"We want to make such Pakistan in accordance with the vision of Muhammad Ali Jinnah where every citizen has equal rights and every person could achieve a status on the basis of his abilities without discrimination of faith, color and creed," he added.
He said this while addressing an intellectual session held under the aegis of Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said a handout issued here. Anchor of BBC World and writer of International repute Brant Jones acted as host.
The CM condemned the incident of terrorism in Paris, adding that this act of barbarism had shocked the entire world.
He said that in the so-called war between Communism and Islam during the decade of '80s, Pakistan was made a frontline state and when Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, Pakistan was left alone.
He said that as a result of this war, Pakistan received nothing except Kalashnikov and heroin culture and terrorism.
He said that Pakistan had to face the burden of three million Afghan refugees, adding "Due to our past services, people elected us in elections of 2013 and vowed that we will come up to their expectations."
He said that loadshedding will be overcome during 2017 and 2018. He said that presently Pakistan is facing loss of two percent in annual growth rate.
Shehbaz said that as a result of Zarb-e-Azab, terrorist have been weekend but winning war against terrorism is not easy.
'We are fully aware of the difficulties in this war but our intention is good and morale is high," he added.
The CM said that the bright future of Pakistan depends upon strengthening of institutions and continuity of democracy, adding that the tragic incident in Peshawar occurred in last December proved a decisive moment for Pakistan and the entire country united against terrorism.
He said that for the first time in the history of the country, legislation has been made for deterrent punishments for delivering hatred speeches, wall-chalking and display of weapons.
Replying to a question with regard to Jhelum incident, the Chief Minister said that the government will not tolerate injustice with any person and the person responsible for the incident will not escape punishment.
Comments
Comments are closed.