Provincial Minister for Education, Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Rana Mashhood Ahmed Thursday said that December 16 united the whole nation to counter the menace of terrorism.
Paying rich tribute to the martyred students and teachers of Army Public School (APS) Peshawar, he said December 16 is also a reminder for the nation to stand united irrespective of regional or linguistic identities.
He was addressing a ceremony at a private college here to pay tribute to the APS martyrs, who were killed in a terror attack last year.
December 16, the minister, was a reminder that “we can not stand united after the 1971 secession of the country.”
Now was the time for the entire nation to unite for the fulfillment of the dream of Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he added.
He said Pakistan was the common goal of all the people in 1947. There was no distinction of Sindhi, Balochi, Pathan, Punjabi and Kashmiri.
The minister said the nation should now defeat the mindset of dividing the nation on the basis of sects and nationality as all were Pakistanis.
Referring to the immense talent in the country, the minister said the youth were immensely talented and there was the need to provide it direction and give it the right encouragement and they could beat anyone in the world. He said the number of Pakistanis serving the top organizations of the world was rising day by day.
Mashhood said conspiracy was being hatched against Pakistan in the form of Al-Qaida, and Daesh to stop the wheel of progress. The members of these outfits were not Pakistanis as terrorist had no religion and country.
He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced at the start of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb that there were no bad or good Taliban. Law of the land would take action against anyone, who would take arms against the law and Constitution of the country.
He exhorted the youth to come forward and play their role in making the Zarb-e-Azb a success. It was time to take a bold stance against the terrorists.
Paying glowing tribute to the armed forces jawans and the police personnel, he said the law enforcement agencies had rendered great sacrifices to maintain peace in the country.
He said youth were the future leaders and tomorrow of the country as they were destined to take the reins of the country.
Acknowledging the presence of the girl students in the auditorium, the minister said the girls had recently shown better results than the boys. The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave equal opportunity to the women. Only those nations, he said, had excelled in the world which had given equal opportunities to the women.
The minister said the Punjab government had fixed 33 percent quota for women in all jobs in the province. Mashhood said democracy was the best form of accountability. In the 2008 and 2013 election, the voters had rejected the sitting governments as these had failed to deliver and fulfil public aspirations.
He said 2018 election was also election of governance, deliverance and making Pakistan developed.
He urged the youth to work with dedication and sincerity and this would help the country rid of the menace of terrorism and put Pakistan on the path of progress.
Earlier the students presented different skits to pay homage to the martyrs of APS Peshawar.
Gen (r) Zia-ud-Din Khawaja and Gen. ® Rahat Lateef also spoke on the occasion.
