Maghreb<\/em> prayers at the Lahore Fort with Shehbaz, Ishaq Dar and other party leaders before making his way to the Minar-i-Pakistan. Upon arrival, a visibly emotional Nawaz embraced his daughter Maryam and greeted other party leaders on stage.<\/p>\nAt the outset of his speech, the PML-N supremo said: \u201cI am meeting you today after several years, but my relationship of love with you is the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no difference in this relationship. The love I am seeing in your eyes, I am proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nawaz said he never betrayed his supporters nor did he shy away from any kind of sacrifice. He recalled how \u201cfake cases\u201d were framed against him and his party leaders. \u201cBut no one abandoned the PML-N flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me, who separated Nawaz Sharif from his nation? We are those who built Pakistan. We made Pakistan an atomic power. We brought an end to loadshedding,\u201d he said, highlighting how he produced and provided \u201ccheap\u201d electricity to the people.<\/p>\n
Responding to the crowd cheering, Nawaz said: \u201cI know you want to hear that I love you too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, trust me, after seeing your love, I have forgotten all my grief and pain. I don\u2019t even want to remember. But, there are some wounds that can\u2019t ever heal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nawaz, in a quivering voice, said how he had lost his mother and wife \u201cto politics\u201d. He recalled how he couldn\u2019t pay his final respects to his mother, father or wife, despite repeated requests to the jail superintendent in his wife\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept thinking about how difficult could it possibly be for him to just arrange a phone call. After 2.5 hours, his number 2 man came and told me that my wife has passed away,\u201d the deposed PM said, adding that he had stopped them from giving Maryam the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would she have gone through [\u2026] this is our own country, I am a true Pakistani, the love for Pakistan is in my chest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nawaz further recalled the impediments he faced at the time of making Pakistan an atomic power. \u201cThere will be record present in the Foreign Office that Clinton offered me $5bn [\u2026] this happened in 1999 [\u2026] I could have been offered $1 or 2 billion too, but I was born in the land of Pakistan and this did not permit me to accept what is against Pakistan\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me, if someone else would have been in my place \u2014 you know who \u2014 could he have said this to the American president? So, do we get punished for this? Are verdicts announced against us for this reason?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nawaz compared how roti<\/em> and petrol cost way higher today as compared to when he was in power. \u201cWas I ousted for this reason? What is this decision? You are the public, you tell, do you agree with this decision?\u201d<\/p>\n\n