Muzaffarabad, (Parliament Times) : Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, Minister for Local Government and Secretary-General of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Azad Kashmir, stated that despite difficult financial conditions, the establishment of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir University of Haveli is a historic achievement of the government. The coalition government led by Chaudhry Anwarul Haq maintained financial discipline during its two-year tenure and utilized available resources to strengthen the health package, social protection fund, police, and anti-corruption departments, in addition to establishing two universities.
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said that the establishment of a university in Haveli was his dream and a long-standing demand of the people of Haveli. The Pakistan Peoples Party government, under the leadership of Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, provided a campus of the University of Poonch in Haveli, which took ten years to become a full-fledged university—a credit that goes to the Anwarul Haq government.
He thanked Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, Ms. Faryal Talpur, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Higher Education Minister Malik Zafar Iqbal, and all members of the Legislative Assembly for their generosity in approving the Act for the University of Haveli.
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said that the establishment of the University of Haveli was a challenging and patience-testing target with many visible and invisible obstacles in its path, but with Allah’s blessings, he and his voters were vindicated. Despite the President of the state not signing the cabinet-approved ordinance out of courtesy and mutual respect, which caused some delay, success came with the approval of the Act. The University of Haveli will ensure honor, dignity, and employment for the generations of Haveli. Now, no one can say that there is a university on the other side of the control line but not in Haveli.
He said that all issues of Haveli are being resolved gradually with a strategic approach. Now, with Allah’s will, they aim to secure an additional seat in the Legislative Assembly for Haveli, for which he had done a lot of work, but due to unnecessary statements by some unwise friends, the matter was delayed, and several forces intervened. But with Allah’s will, they will succeed in this goal too. His dream now is to abolish the district quota in jobs, for which a committee of the Legislative Assembly was formed on his motion, but due to changes in the status of assembly members, the matter was delayed.
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said that he can give the youth a future of peace, brotherhood, and freedom from prejudice. The disciplines at the University of Haveli will be according to the demands of the present era and the future. For the construction of the university and other needs, they will approach the government, HEC, and the private sector, in which former HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Khawaja played a significant role.