LAHORE, Jul 27 (APP):Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Tuesday said that the role of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was crucial in countering terrorism, as it was the first line of defence against terrorists.
The Punjab government was going to further develop this department, she added.
Talking to the media in Sialkot, Dr Firdous said the CTD had achieved great successes against terrorists and foiled their nefarious designs.
She said the past government started expensive and flashy projects with loan money to attract voters, but these projects had become a burden on the provincial exchequer. On the other hand, the PTI government was committed to imparting training and educating the youth, which made 65 per cent of the total population, she added.
Dr Firdous said that Punjab was ahead of other provinces in imparting technical education and training to the youth. She said that steps were being taken to fully operationalise TEVTA, e-Rozgar and other institutions for human resource development. The provision of employment opportunities to the youth abroad and within Pakistan was among the top priorities of the government, she said.
It was against the democratic norms that the opposition cried foul where it had lost and termed election process satisfactory where it achieved success, she said and added the opposition should realise that its corrupt political narrative would not work anymore. People had rejected the opposition because of its political support to the Modi regime at the cost of national interest, she added.
The SACM said the opposition should stop playing with national security and honour. The opposition’s India-centric approach was the real cause of its defeat, adding the PML-N, especially the Sharif family, should revisit its support to India as Kashmiris would never trust India’s political facilitators.
Dr Firdous said the PML-N had resorted to hooliganism and investors had been assigned polling stations as the party was busy buying CNICs of voters.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should take notice of the purchase of votes, she said and added the PML-N had violated the election laws in the PP-38 campaign, but no step had been taken by the ECP.
The ECP was duty-bound to hold a transparent and peaceful election and the PTI would extend full support to it in this regard, concluded the SACM.
