Parliament has become a club of landlords and capitalists: JI

F.P. Report

LOWER DIR: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has said that democracy in Pakistan has become a joke and the parliament is unfortunately a club of feudal and capitalists. The country cannot progress until intervention of judges, generals and bureaucrats in politics is ended.

The JI chief expressed these views while addressing a lawyers’ function at the district bar Timergara as chief guest here on Tuesday. The function attended by members of the bar was also addressed by the bar president Tariq Khan, general secretary Asadullah Khan and others.

Siraj said the holding of by-election was not the solution to the problems. He suggested the government should hold fresh elections for the national and provincial assemblies on the same day. He said the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf had made the elections as a joke because its members voluntarily resigned from the assemblies but now they wanted to contest the elections. He said that billions would be wasted on the conduction of by-elections in the country that was a wasteful exercise.

The JI chief said that 18 personalities in Pakistan including Mian Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Asif Ali Zardari, Malik Riaz etc had more than Rs 4000 billion declared assets which were enough for the nation if spent honestly. He regretted that having such wealthy people in the country the rulers had been begging from others which was a shame. He said those rich persons should come forward and make a sacrifice for the nation. Siraj alleged the country was being ruled by the servants of the East India Company. He said the world was progressing while Pakistan faced a downfall for the last 76 years.

The JI chief said the nation had lost trust over the judicial system. He said that justice had never been in courts and the judges had been appealing to the former premier to appear before the court that showed the weakness of courts in the country. He alleged the parliament, judiciary and media were enslaved. He said that political and economic instability was on its peak while the institutions failed to overcome the crises. He said the public defenders felt insecurity and the influential were roaming in their bullet proof vehicles due to deteriorating law and order situation.

The JI chief asked the legal fraternity to play their active role in the establishment of rule of law and national integrity. He said the country needed a true and sincere leadership as the previous ones had put it at stake. He said that the JI could steer the country out of crises if it was given a chance to rule. He said they would never depend on the IMF and World Bank if they came into power.

Addressing a workers’ convention at the famous Qila Masjid in Munda the JI chief asked the party workers to speed up their efforts for conveying the message of his party. He said that it was the JI that would rid the nation from the IMF grabs and put the country on the path of development and prosperity due to its honest and Pakistan-made leadership. He said the poor people were being taxed while billions were spent on ministers’ luxuries. The JI chief alleged that government jobs were sold from Rs 1 million to Rs 1.6 million during the PTI government in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last five years. He said the inflation and devaluation of Pakistani currency had forced the poor to commit suicide while the rulers did nothing to provide relief to them.