ISLAMABAD, 28 May — The Pakistan Muslim League, Sharif group, will hold its first national convention here today to celebrate the detonation of nuclear devices by Pakistan during the tenure of deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan tested nuclear devices on May 28, 1998, at Chagai in Balochistan in response to India’s five tests carried out earlier.
Over 3,000 PML leaders and workers from across the country are expected to take part in the event.
Raja Zafarul Haq will preside over the convention to be held on the eastern side of Rawal Lake, at a place known as Chak Shezad. The PML convention is being held at a time when majority of pro-Sharif leaders are worried about the future of the party. The holding of the convention is also seen as an attempt by the PML leadership to give the flagging party a shot in the arm.
Some PML leaders say that attempts would be made at the convention to mobilize party workers to launch some sort of an agitation against the military government.
The government has not indicated it would bar the PML from holding the convention though PML leaders fear it might take action at the eleventh hour citing ban on rallies and meetings.
The government did not prevent the breakaway PML group leaders from holding a general council meeting at a cricket ground in March this year.
Pakistan had carried out the tests despite tremendous international pressure. The tests followed international sanctions which triggered the economic meltdown, but Islamabad says the tests restored a strategic balance in the region and deterred India from any adventurism against Pakistan.
