Daily Times

Since the party first emerged, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has usually returned to what many pundits call ‘Takht-e-Lahore’. However, with Nawaz Sharif in jail, Shehbaz Sharif chose to break with this tradition, and instead chose to end the PML-N campaign in Dera Ghazi Khan. He took this decision despite the fact that PML-N candidates had asked him to bring the campaign to a close in Lahore with a big show.

Despite the numerous development projects launched by the PML-N over the years, South Punjab remains underdeveloped and neglected. The region is in dire need of infrastructure development and investments in healthcare and education. Poverty and unemployment have enabled extremism to thrive in this region.

Hence, with reports emerging that the swinging vote of South Punjab could make or break the PML-N, it is no wonder that on Monday the former Punjab Chief Minister vowed to develop DG Khan till it was on the same level as Lahore if his party was voted into power.

Both Pakistan People Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Imran Khan have vowed to create a South Punjab province, promising to deliver the people of this region their due share. The PML-N has also included a South Punjab and a Bahawalpur province in its manifesto.

However, South Punjab has heard the PML-N’s campaign promises before. In early July, seven PML-N candidates abandoned the party to contest the election as independents. Recently it emerged that most of these candidates will be contesting the elections under the Jeep symbol. Additionally, the PPP has also emerged stronger than expected under Bilawal Bhutto. Southern Punjab was once considered a PPP stronghold.

Regardless, one hopes that an independent Southern Punjab stays on the agenda once the elections are over and done with. In its 2016 report, the International Crisis Group termed Southern Punjab “Pakistan’s Jihadist heartland”. One election candidate, Pervaiz Ali Gorchani, has also stated the ideology of the Lal Masjid’s Ghazi Abdur Rasheed is very influential in the area. Our political representatives must address the area’s problems to save it from toxic ideologies.

The people of South Punjab deserve a fair deal.  *

Published in Daily Times, July 25^th 2018.