Daily Times

A ceremony was held in the main mosque of CM’s Office on the eve of fifth anniversary of APS Peshawar tragedy, which was especially attended by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.

Auqaf Minister Saeed-ul-Hasan Shah led the prayers for the martyrs. The CM said that the wounds of APS Peshawar were still alive as innocent children and their teachers were mercilessly butchered. This was the worst and most painful incident in the recent history. The nation fully shared the pain of bereaved heirs, he added. Usman Buzdar said that APS Peshawar carnage united the nation in war against terrorism and memories of this tragedy will forever remain alive. Assembly members Sanaullah Mastikhil, Ch. Shabaz Ahmad, officials of the CM Office, Khateeb Badshahi Masjid Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad and others attended the prayer ceremony.

Meanwhile, Buzdar inaugurated the five-day long province-wide anti-polio campaign by administering anti-polio drops to the children. Provincial ministers Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Raja Bashrat, Saeed-ul-Hasan Shah, assembly members Sanaullah Mastikhel and Ch. Shahbaz Ahmed also administered anti-polio drops to the children. Chief Secretary, Secretary (P&SH) and others were also present.

Talking on this occasion, the chief minister said that more than 50 thousand teams will administer anti-polio drops to around two crore children of less than five year age during this door to door campaign. The Deputy Commissioners have been directed to monitor this campaign and provincial ministers have been directed to supervise it at divisional level. He asked the parents to cooperate with the anti-polio teams to make Punjab a polio-free province. Success is the only option in this continues struggle of securing the future of the children, he added. The polio virus will be eliminated with collective efforts, he emphasized. The world is polio-free but regrettably this disease exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he lamented. We will have to work with renewed zeal to defeat polio as it is a national issue. Collective efforts are being made to completely eradicate polio from the country, the chief minister concluded.

Separately, a senior PTI leader from UK Ch Aftab called on Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and discussed problems being faced by the expatriate Pakistanis.

Talking on this occasion, the chief minister termed expatriates as a precious asset who send foreign reserves and assured that their problems will be solved on priority basis. The Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission has been activated to help solve the problems of Pakistanis living abroad, he added. District committees of the OPC Punjab have also been constituted and overseas Pakistanis will be given best facilities.

The chief minister reiterated that expatriates’ role in strengthening of national economy cannot be ignored. The Punjab Government will continue to protect the properties and legal rights of the expatriate Pakistanis, concluded Usman Buzdar. Ch. Aftab invited the chief minister to visit UK.