Siraj asks govt to ensure peace in tribal districts

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Wednesday warned the government of serious consequences, if it didn’t give the due rights to the people of the merged districts.

“The country may disintegrate like that of Bangladesh if the government fails to follow the Constitution,” he said while addressing a tribal conference here.

“A mere atomic bomb cannot save a country. Russia was the most powerful nuclear power, but its atomic energy could not save it from dismemberment,” he added.

Sirajul Haq said that it was social, legal justice and peace that put countries on the path of development.

He said that the justice system in the country was very weak and the people cannot get justice in the Supreme Court and high courts. He added that it was the duty of the government to give the due rights to the people in line with the constitution.

“We are not refugees in our own country. We know how to get our rights,” he added.

The JI chief said that the tribal people had the only one demand that protection of their lives and properties should be ensured. He said that the government had failed to provide protection to the people. The conference was also addressed by tribal elders including Sahibzada Haroonur Rasheed, Shah Faisal Afridi Sardar Khan and others.

Sirajul Haq said that no was ready to believe that the government was unable to cleanse a handful of outlaw elements. “If the government makes a sincere decision, it will restore complete peace,” he added.

He said that if the government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was unable to ensure peace, he should resign and go home.

He also came down hard on the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, saying that the former ministers, including chief minister, used to give extortions to outlaws in bid to save their own lives. He said that the courts gave repeated verdicts for production of the enforced disappeared persons, but the government made no effort for recovering them.

Sirajul Haq was also critical of the caretaker government and said that government employees have been made ministers in the interim set up. One of the ministers has been declared dead in Saudi Arabia and he had been given the portfolio of education, he added.

The JI chief said that the lion’s share of the country’s budget was spent on defense, but no one was providing security to the people. He said that the wave of lawlessness in the tribal areas has made the life of the people miserable.