Pakistan: PML-N leader blasts Imran Khan for 'ignoring' Hazara division development during his tenure

A parliamentary leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party lambasted ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Sunday for ignoring the Hazara division in its development strategy.

"Imran Khan didn't approve even a single mega-development project during his tenure as the Prime Minister," said Sardar Mohammad Yusuf, who is PML leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, reported The News International.

Sardar Yousuf said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his visit announced the construction of an airport, medical college, Mansehra-Muzaffarabad Motorway, women's university and other mega projects.

Sardar Yousuf said that Nawaz Sharif was the only prime minister who announced mega development projects for the Hazara division in the past, reported The News International.

"Hazara Motorway is a gift of Nawaz Sharif for the people of the division and they have been enjoying this mega-development project," he added.

Earlier in February, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government led by Imran Khan had promised to make the Hazara division a separate province.

"We have been demanding the status of the province for the Hazara division as the successive governments had ignored it and deprived it of the mega development projects," he added.

Sardar Yousuf, who had also remained the federal religious affairs minister in the past, said that the PTI government didn't induct a single youngster from Hazara into the tourism force, reported The News International.

"This force has been formed for the safety of tourists in Hazara division but no youngster from the region was made part of it," he said and vowed to challenge the appointments in the court of law.

"We will never allow the PTI government to exploit Hazara division's resources," he added.

The National Commission on Human Rights has estimated thousands of Hazaras -- adherents of the minority Shia Muslim sect --- have been killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan since 2004.

They have been subject to targeted shootings and mass bomb and suicide attacks, particularly in Quetta, where the majority of the country's estimated half a million Hazaras reside.

( With inputs from ANI )