Right to live being snatched from masses: TI

LAHORE:Tanzeem-e-Islami ameer Shujauddin Shaikh has lamented that ruling elite is giving an impression of snatching the right to live from the masses under a deliberate plan, as they hit the masses with massive petrol price hike despite that they were already reeling from the heavily increased electricity bills.

The brutal rise in the prices of electricity, petrol, sugar, medicine, transport and all items of basic needs have gored the masses already crushed by the rampant inflation, he said addressing a meeting on Friday. He demanded holding accountable those who approved the harsh terms of agreements with the IMF that trapped the nation into a pit where we are forced to accept all decisions imposed on us against our national interest.

He said for 76 years, the ruling elite and bureaucracy have been plundering the national treasury and resources without any remorse, and without any accountability for their transgression. On one hand, the common people are crushed under the weight of inflation, while on the other, the privileges of the elite are being massively and constantly increased.

He said the politicians and the bureaucracy are equally responsible for dire economic and political conditions, and announced full support to the right to peaceful protest against victimising the poor nation by ruling elite and bureaucracy. He demanded taking immediate steps at both the foreign and domestic levels to make Pakistan completely self-reliant, and to uproot the exploitative economic system, besides pursuing austerity as a national policy, with necessary sacrifices starting from the ruling elites, bureaucracy and state institutions. The ruling elite must realise that due to the implementation of anti-public policies, the country is in such a state of turmoil and unrest that our national security is also at risk. He emphasised that the real solution to Pakistan’s economic issues is to implement a just economic system based on Islamic principles so that the fundamental problems of the people may be resolved, and the country may move towards progress and prosperity.