Siraj assails govt’s apathy on JI leaders’ hanging in BD

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif act as representative of Kashmiris on behalf of entire Pakistani nation when he addressed the UN general assembly.

In an interview with The News, he noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided not to go to the UN only because he was afraid of facing the world at a time when Indian army was using every kind of banned weapon to crush a renewed wave of freedom struggle launched by Kashmiris recently after the martyrdom of a young commander Burhan Wani who had now become a symbol of Kashmir’s freedom.

The ameer noted that Indian leadership would never have faced the world on Kashmir issue in the past had Pakistan raised an effective voice since India had her hands soaked with the blood of over one hundred thousand Kashmiri Muslims. 

Similarly, he said, Islamabad’s stance on the series of executions of Islamist leaders of Bangladesh by Hasina Wajed regime was nothing but criminal silence. Those leaders of Jamaat Islami, Bangladesh, are being executed as political victimization since their ancestors had resisted separation of East Pakistan. Siraj said he had been holding meetings with political leadership and the military establishment in Islamabad to shake their conscience but without any success. Instead of raising the issue with Dhaka, the key figures of Pakistan advised him (Siraj) to take the issue to international court of justice. But he told them that the issue concerned the state and not to any political party. 

He noted with regrets that National Assembly passed a routine resolution on the issue. He feared that this criminal silence would deter others to resist any separatist movements in the country for the fear of becoming Mir Qasim, Matiur Rehman Nizami, Ali Hasan Mujahid and Prof Ghulam Azam.

Sirajul Haq said all those executed in Bangladesh for their love of Pakistan deserved to be awarded ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ since they embraced martyrdom for Pakistan but refused to make mercy appeal before Hasina government. Neither they nor their families expressed any remorse for the fate they met in return for their love for Pakistan. 

Sirajul Haq were all praise for Turkish Prime Minister Teyyip Erdogan who not only vehemently condemned Dhaka for executing political opponents on dubious charges but also recalled his ambassador as protest, something which the world was expecting from Pakistani government. 

Known for his simple life style and candid manner of speech, Senator Sirajul Haq indicated that Pakistani rulers’ own agenda of trade with India has kept them from strongly condemning India and they have been speaking about similarity of culture, race, language, cuisine and tastes on both sides of border. 

He added the same reason has kept Islamabad rulers so far from openly speaking against the death sentences given by even more controversial war crimes tribunal of Dhaka government. Siraj said that jurists all over the world have termed the Bangladesh war crimes tribunals as politically motivated and without legal authority in violation of the tripartite agreement between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh binding all sides against prosecuting anybody regarding any crimes related to the events of or before the crating of Bangladesh in 1971.