No mercy to terrorists, corrput elements: Mamnoon

PESHAWAR: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday said the government would show no mercy to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks and the operation against terrorism would continue unabated till the elimination of the last terrorist in the country.

Addressing the concluding ceremony of the First Governor’s Fata Youth Festival at the Peshawar Sports Complex, he said the elimination of terrorism and corruption and acceleration of economic development remained the government’s main priorities.

President Mamnoon Hussain said those killing innocent people and resorting to brutal terrorist attacks like the one carried out at the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office in Mardan deserved no mercy and needed to be eliminated.

“Today the entire nation is united to defeat the spectre of terrorism, while the government has already initiated an intensive action against the terrorists,” he added.

Paying tributes to those who laid down their lives in the fight against terror, the President said that due to the sacrifices of the security forces, police and other officials, there is peace from Khyber to Karachi.

He said that corruption of the previous rulers had undermined the process of economic and infrastructural development in the country. “Those corrupt rulers still walk with heads high as if they are the most respected people,” he said

Mamnoon Hussain alleged the previous governments could not initiate any mega energy and power project in the country, adding that the corrupt should be socially boycotted.He hailed the present government for focusing on revival of the economy, fighting corruption and initiating energy projects. He said that monetary institutions of world repute had acknowledged the economic policies of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

The President opined that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would boost the national economy and benefit all parts of the country. He dispelled the impression that the western route is not the priority route of the CPEC and said the inauguration of work on this would bring to an end this propaganda.

Turning to the Youth Sport Festival, the President said sports could play pivotal role in saving youth from falling into wrong hands and would also lead to promotion of peace and frustrating the efforts of anti-state elements to find recruits.

Mamnoon Hussain lauded the sacrifices rendered by the tribal people in the ongoing operation against the militants and said the government would ensure dignified repatriation of the temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) to their hometowns.

The President directed Governor Mahtab Ahmed Khan and Fata Secretariat authorities to establish a state-of-the-art Sports Complex for Fata.Fata Members of the National Assembly, Senators and tribal elders were also present on the occasion.