LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak on Saturday said the beautiful valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan had been ignored in the past, however, Dr Shafiq Jullandhry’s book had rightly highlighted the area’s exquisiteness.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Dr Shafiq Jullandhry’s book titled “Beautiful Pakistan: Gilgit Baltistan” held at Jinnah Library, the KP chief minister said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had opened a new era of development in the province. He said that his government in KP was not working to “show off like traditional politicians”, but was focusing on the provision of basic facilities to the masses.
He criticised the media for not highlighting the development work of KP government and said around half of the province’s population had been provided with health cards while his government’s special focus was on police and education sector reforms. The chief minister also invited journalists for fact findings and reporting on the KP government’s billions tree project.
While Chief Minister Khattak attended the event as the chief guest, senior writers, columnists and journalists including Dr Mujahid Mansoor, Sajjad Mir, Rauf Tahir, Dr Noshina Saleem, Javed Nawaz, Shabbir Sarwar, Fawad Chaudhry, Raja Asad Ali Khan and a large number of journalism students also attended the launching ceremony jointly organised by Maulana Zaffar Ali Khan Trust and Punjab Public Libraries.
Punjab Libraries DG Dr Zaheer Ahmad Babar on the occasion said that libraries played an important role in bringing out reforms in a society and Dr Jullandhry’s book was a good addition. “His (Dr Jullandhry) students are shining in the media industry everywhere in the country,” he said.
Dr Mujahid Mansoori said that Dr Jullandhry’s book was a result of his rational observation as a sociologist during his stay as a media academician at the Karakoram International University. Praising the KP government, he said that no one could stop the change in KP.
PTI spokesman Fawad Choudhary at the event said that out of world’s eight highest mountains, five were in GB which was a great distinction for the country. He said that GB was a great tourism industry and Dr Jullandhry’s travelogue took the reader to the fascinating valleys.
