GUJRAT:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Monday lambasted the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, accusing it of leaving the province "in the stone age" while Punjab moves ahead with technology-driven development initiatives.
Addressing a laptop distribution ceremony at a university in Gujrat, Maryam contrasted what she described as Punjab's forward-looking policies with stagnation in K-P, saying students in Punjab now benefit from Honhaar scholarships, laptop schemes, the Parwaz Card, green buses and technical training programmes.
"So there is Honhaar here, and incitement there, but this is nothing to rejoice about," she said, adding that she was deeply disturbed that "people of K-P were still living in the stone age".
Maryam argued that the PTI government, which she said has ruled K-P for the past 13 years, had failed to introduce meaningful development initiatives.
"They do not know what development is. They do not realise that Honhaar scholarships also exist if one does not have the resources for their child's studies," she said.
"They do not know that you must have a gadget or a laptop or an iPad or a computer in your hands if you are to meet global standards in today's age."
Indirectly referring to PTI's long tenure in the province, she remarked that the public there "does not even know what development is," quipping that the K-P government's answer to every need was that it was providing "awareness".
She further maintained that blocking major roads in K-P does not affect Punjab's economy but instead harms K-P's own economic activity.
During the event, Maryam played archived video clips of former prime minister Imran Khan from his time in office. In the footage, the PTI founder could be heard threatening to remove televisions and air conditioners from prison cells of PML-N leaders.
Responding to that, Maryam said: "I am swearing by God that till today, neither I nor Nawaz Sharif or Shehbaz Sharif even thought of removing his AC or shutting off his food and TV."
