Piqued by bitter memories, PM Shehbaz assails NAB

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday the country was passing through a difficult time but the government is working hard to steer the country out of the present situation.

He said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of work on the Bab-e-Pakistan project and the foundation stone laying ceremony of the extension and widening project of Walton Road, here on Saturday.

The project, which was first proposed by the late Governor Ghulam Jilani Khan in 1985 and approved by then president Zia ul Haq, has not been completed as of 2023 despite the attempts made by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1991 and the late Pervez Musharraf.

Under the project of Bab-e-Pakistan, a memorial will be built on Walton Road in the Punjab capital by establishing a museum, auditorium, art gallery and library to commemorate the sacrifices of those who left their homes to live in Pakistan during the independence of 1947.

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The premier said this is his eighth visit to the site of the project in the last 25 years but regretted that one point one billion rupees had been spent from the national exchequer on this project but was no visible progress on the ground.

He said that NAB should make those people accountable, who are responsible for delaying this important project for so long.

He said that this project will be completed without any further funds from the government and include the Central Business District to generate its own income.

The premier said he stopped the import of marble worth Rs 900 million and issued order for use of local marble in this project. He said the NAB targeted innocent people and put them behind the bars but no action was taken against those involved in corruption in the project.

Such dual standards pushed Pakistan on the verge of collapse, he said, adding: “I want to know the reason for not holding accountability of people in this important project.”

Shehbaz said the country could not make progress unless we abolished the ‘might is right’ concept from our system.

He further said that Bab-e-Pakistan reminds us about the great sacrifices. Thousands of migrants had stayed at Bab-e-Pakistan which will remind the entire world about the history of the creation of Pakistan. He said that the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam visited this place in 1948.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said the site for the national monument provided the first home under the open sky for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who migrated from their home to Pakistan in 1947. He said the PML-N in its every tenure took steps to complete the project.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023