Police Lines bombing worst security lapse, says JI chief

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Thursday termed the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines tragedy as the worst security lapse.

He said mere statements and condemnations cannot heal the wounds of the nation.

“The entire government machinery has failed to protect the lives of the masses and rulers should step down forthwith”, he said, while talking to the media after a seminary function here on Thursday.

The JI chief declared that the JI would stage a protest demonstration in the provincial capital on February 8 against the incident and force the rulers to have effective policies for protecting the people.

He said that the tragedy has not happened in any tribal area but in the middle of the provincial metropolis at a compound that is aimed at protecting the lives of the people. “If they cannot protect themselves, how will they protect the people”, he asked.

“If the House of Allah [mosque] is not safe in this country, then no place will be,” he remarked.

He said the rulers should confess that they have failed and quit power. “History will not forgive them If they remain silent “, he added.

The JI leader was also concerned over the increasing terror incidents in the province and said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone becomes the target of terrorist attacks. After every tragedy, the rulers of Islamabad merely change their statements, he lamented.

Sirajul Haq blasted the present government’s economic policies, saying the rulers were not able to provide relief to the common man. “The ever-rising inflation has made life miserable for the people”, he said.

Sirajul Haq said the JI would launch a protest march from Lahore in March, which would reach Gujranwala in the first phase and culminate in Peshawar.