LAHORE, May 28 (APP): Minister for Railways Khawaja
Saad Rafique Sunday said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
carried out nuclear tests on May 28, 1998 by utilising power
of vote despite immense pressure from the world powers.
Addressing a Youm-e-Takbeer ceremony here, he said
some new entrants to politics were levelling allegations
against the Pakistan Muslim League-N leadership.
Saad said Nawaz Sharif had to pay price for the nuclear
tests in the form of exile and his party was also damaged by
dividing it into factions.
Nawaz Sharif, he said, was not the first prime minister,
who was punished, there were some other prime ministers in the
history who were also sentenced for the same reason, he added.
He cited the example of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto, who also fell victim in the past. Benazir Bhutto had also
to stay in exile even, he said.
Saad said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan was
playing with fire. “In fact, he is cutting the same branch of
the tree on which he is sitting,” he added.
The PML-N leadership had been listening to Imran Khan’s
derogatory words for years but never replied to him, he
said, adding that such ‘newly born politicians’ were in fact
harming the national politics.
He said like nuclear explosions, the prime minister had
taken a decision to conduct another blast and that would
pertain to economy.
The minister said the PML-N was being targeted under an
agenda and many people, both in the country and abroad, were
feeling ill due to the economic growth of the country.
It was an open secret that how many megawatts of electricity
were generated in Punjab and how many in Sindh and
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa during the past four years, he added.
He said peace had returned to Karachi as terrorism had been
eliminated from the economic hub of the country.
The civil-miliary leaderships were on the same page, he added.
The minister said Asif Ali Zardari arrival in Punjab was, in fact,
benefiting the Pakistan Muslim League-N.