Political crisis not over as yet: Sirajul Haq

PESHAWAR: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sirajul Haq, has said that if the rulers were not involved in rigging, there should be no delay in the setting up of the judicial commission.

Addressing the prize distribution ceremony of a religious seminary at Peshawar on Sunday, he said that the government should not be under the misconception that the crisis was over after the exit of Dr. Tahirul Qadri. He said the crisis was still persisting and the government should immediately announce the date for talks with the PTI.

Sirajul Haq said that the ship of the constitution and democracy was still in troubled waters, therefore the political Jirga had decided to continue its efforts till the crisis was resolved. He said a Federal Minister issued a statement that the talks would be resumed only when the rallies and public meetings were discontinued. He said that rallies and processions were the beauty of democracy; therefore, both the sides should overcome their ego and go ahead with talks.

The JI chief said that corrupt elite, comprising feudal lords and capitalists, had been plundering the country’s wealth with both hands and nobody cared for the poor and the downtrodden. However, he said, it was high time that the status quo was broken.

Sirajul Haq welcomed the appointment of Justice (rtd) Sardar Raza Muhammad Khan as Chief Election Commissioner, and expressed the hope that the new CEC would take effective measures to restore the sanctity of the ballot box.

He said the JI on coming to power, would ensure justice to the poor and the oppressed, and open the public exchequer to the poor. A truly independent foreign policy would be adopted and the hold of the IMF and the World Bank on the country’s economy would be ended.

He said he would announce the road map for his people’s agenda at the Mazar e Quaid, Karachi on December 25, and added that this would be the second phase of the Pakistan movement.

Sirajul Haq assured his audience that he would talk to the provincial government for allocation of sufficient funds for the beautification of Peshawar city, and added that the JI workers including himself would join the people in this campaign.

Meanwhile in a statement Sirajul Haq has said that if the provincial governments changed the procurement price of sugarcane allowing the exploitation of the growers, the JI would stand by the poor growers and join them in their protest.

He said that the government policies simply aimed at the exploitation of the masses including the small growers. He said the produce of the sugarcane, cotton and rice growers was procured at throwaway prices. The growers were compelled to sell their produce to the mill owners and the middleman at low prices due to which they did not the due return for their hard labour and even their cost of production. He said the mill owners sitting in the government were busy in the economic murder of the growers.

He said no relief was provided to the growers in the supply of irrigation water, pesticides, fertilizer other inputs and farm machinery. The government had not raised any voice against India’s water aggression against this country.

Sirajul Haq said that despite the fall in the POL prices twice, its benefit had not reached the common man.