220m people of Pakistan side with Palestinians: Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan

LAHORE:Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that Pakistan officially observed Palestine Solidarity Day on Friday on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan to show to the world that 220 million people of the country are firmly standing with the oppressed people of Palestine.

She said this while talking to the media on the occasion of a solidarity walk organised under the aegis of district administration for showing support to the Palestinian people at Liberty Chowk.

DC Lahore Mudassar Riaz Malik and people from different walks of life also attended the rally in large numbers. Talking to the media, Dr Firdous strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against Palestinians and said that the 220 million people of Pakistan were siding with the Palestinian brethren. Israel is the biggest terrorist in the world and it is incumbent upon the UN and international community to stop Israel from atrocities against Palestinians, she added.

The special assistant to the chief minister condemned the continuous silence of western media and said that Israel destroyed the building housing the media outlets offices in Gaza but international media intentionally ignored this act aimed at silencing the war crimes. The international media also ignored the worst conditions in which Palestinians are forced to live under constant threat and fear. The world bodies should come forward to heal the wounds of the Palestinians, she said.

It is, however, satisfying that PM Imran Khan has raised a strong voice against Israeli cruelties. Imran Khan has emerged as a benefactor of the humanity and Friday’s gatherings were a message to the world that Palestinians are not alone and the government of Pakistan will continue to support their just cause at every forum, she said. The SACM announced sending medicines through a doctors’ forum and asked the medical fraternity to come forward and contact the government so that medical teams could be dispatched to Palestine for providing medical assistance to the people. The people of Palestine and the unarmed Kashmiris in Indian-Occupied Kashmir are continuing their struggle through peaceful means, she said.

Dr Firdous welcomed the announcement of ceasefire and asked the UN and other international bodies to play their role in solution to Kashmir and Palestine issues. Later, she attended a press conference along with Provincial Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi at 90 The Mall.

Talking on the occasion, Dr Firdous said the commitment of PM Imran Khan was to develop the agriculture sector according to the modern needs. Punjab is the food basket of the country and majority of the population is linked with the agriculture sector to meet the food needs of the 220 million people of the country, she said.

Dr Firdous said that bumper crops were a result of the government efforts aiming at the prosperity of the farmers through sustained reforms. National prosperity is linked with farmers’ prosperity and it is deplorable that the past governments’ mismanagement resulted in making Pakistan a food importer, she said.

Responding to a question, the SACM said the Speaker and law minister were part of the Punjab Assembly and it was expected that they will remain abreast of public issues. She said that around Rs1.5 billion were paid to sugarcane farmers along with payment of arrears of Rs26 billion. This is a huge achievement of the PTI government, she said. Dr Firdous said that those who were conspiring to create a splinter group in the party had been frustrated as PTI was a democratic entity and there was no demigod in it.