Rulers hide behind commissions when under pressure: Siraj

LOWER DIR: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq has said that whenever the rulers were under pressure, they tried to hide themselves behind any self-made commission, but none of the commissions in the past had disclosed the truth to the nation.

Talking to different delegations at Lower Dir on Saturday, he said that the fall of Dhaka was the biggest tragedy in the country’s history, but neither those responsible for that were traced nor the secrets concerning it disclosed while the JI leaders in Bangladesh were still being executed due to their love for this country.

Sirajul Haq said that politicians and bureaucrats named in the Panama Leaks were quitting their offices under public pressure, but the situation was different in Pakistan. Some people had plundered billions of public money and transferred their illegal wealth abroad. However, on public pressure and protest, inquiry commissions were set up which neither disclosed the names of the criminals nor was the plundered wealth recovered.

 He said that as many as 150 cases of mega corruption with NAB were not being opened simply because these involved the rulers from different parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said that some people were indirectly pleading the case of the prime minister and were arguing that the premier had committed no wrong.

He said these people should keep in mind that Iceland’s prime minister had resigned on similar grounds.

Sirajul Haq said that the prime minister, during his visits abroad, frequently invited foreigners to invest in Pakistan.

The question, he said, was when the prime minister and his sons were doing business in other countries, who would invest in this country.

Further, he said, the PML-N government had introduced several amnesty schemes to bring traders and businessmen in the tax net, but all these had failed.

The rulers should think that if they were evading taxes, how could others be motivated to pay taxes.

He said that even in 1999, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to face the allegation of money laundering, but the inquiry into the matter had not been completed as yet.