'Hawk' Nawaz's 'dove' talk creates gulf between youngsters, anti-India old guard in PML-N

Lahore, August 26(ANI): There is a cold war-like situation in the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on party chief Nawaz Sharif's recent outburst on the games the military juntas had played in relations with India, according to an informed party source.

The PML-N leader's straight and heartfelt talk did not bode well for a now visibly diminishing and defeated mindset that has lived a life full of hate for a self-assumed enemy, the Daily Times reports.

The comparatively younger leadership in the party, however, is all praise for Nawaz for his futuristic vision for the country, despite the fact that they have come from families that were once the die-hard followers of the moribund perception about Pakistan's ideology.

While the old guard are keeping their silence on the issue, the young lot appears to be enthusiastic about what their party chief has been viewing about future prospects of Pakistan linked with friendly relations with India, the paper quoted the source, as saying.

The source said that Nawaz perhaps had a lifetime experience, when he heard youngsters from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir sharing their plight as the inhabitant of areas in a war zone along the Line of Control.

He was shockingly surprised, and made many old guards accompanying him to listen to them as saying, "Our area is called Azad Kashmir, but are we independent?"

The PML-N leader was quoted as saying, "How can they prosper while living in a permanent war zone where they can have no business, no agriculture and no free movement to fetch a reasonable job."

The 'de-radicalisation' of the PML-N on the ideological front vis-a-vis the distorted version of history taught in Pakistan since decades, is an uphill task, yet vital for a forward movement to reach the truth about the very existence of Pakistan, said an observer.

"The PML-N is in transition phase, as the party is shifting as a whole its perception about country's placement in the region as a source of peace, trade and business, rather than a war-mongering security state," the observer noted.

"Nawaz needs to be supported not only by his own party, but all those who agree to his view point on Pakistan's friendly relations with India," the observer added. (ANI)