Basic question in Panama Leaks is about transfer of money: Siraj

LAHORE

Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said the real issue regarding Panama Leaks was not whether the offshore companies were lawful or otherwise, but the basic question was how and why money was transferred from the country.

Addressing a gathering at Mansoora on Saturday, he said the prime minister had himself told the nation on TV that the Panama leaks had mentioned the names of his children but not his own, yet he was not ready for accountability. Now when the Supreme Court had taken up the matter, the prime minister’s counsel was arguing that the apex court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case, he said.

Sirajul Haq said the JI wanted that each and every corrupt person who had plundered public wealth should be held accountable irrespective of the status or position. The objective of our struggle against corruption is that every penny of plundered public money should be recovered and spent on the poor people who are deprived of basic necessities like food, health, education and shelter because of the corruption of the rulers in the past.

Sirajul Haq said many state institutions like NAB had been established and working with billions of rupees to control corruption but the institutions had become supporters of the corruption mafia instead of eradicating the evil. He said if corrupt elements in the political leadership and bureaucracy accused of corruption had moral courage, they could have dissociated themselves from their official positions but unfortunately, there was no tradition of self accountability in the country. On the other hand, corruption accused sit on their seats with stubbornness, he added.

Sirajul Haq said if the Jamaat-i-islami had not moved the Supreme Court against corruption, people would have been grabbing each other by the collar on the streets. He warned that if somebody in the government and the opposition was under the impression that he could escape accountability, he was grossly mistaken.

Therefore, he said, it was better for the rulers to present themselves for accountability and clear their position. He cautioned the rulers that if they continued to look for more excuses to escape accountability, they would ultimately be trapped in more problems.   

lawlessness: Majlis Ahrar secretary general Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema has warned that without fulfilling the objectives of the creation of Pakistan, the country could never be rid of lawlessness, corruption and unrest gripping it for the past many decades.

Talking to the media on Saturday, he said only targeting the accused in Panama Leaks would not solve the problems of corruption but all plunderers of public wealth in the past and present must be brought to the book in order to purify the system from the corrupt and prevent corrupt practices in future.

He expressed sorrow that small thieves were treated as criminals in the country but big thieves and dacoits were given respect as leaders and heroes. He asked if there was any law in the country to hold accountable corrupt people in the ruling and elite classes, it should be activated immediately to proceed against the influential accused otherwise every activity against corruption would remain an exercise in futility.

Later, while addressing a condolence reference for noted scholar Mufti Hameedullah Jan, Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema said the late Mufti Sahib were among courageous scholars who had always termed it futile to bring reforms through democracy in any Muslim society, and had always been a strong advocate of reforming Muslim societies through enforcing complete Islamic laws. 

Training: Punjab University’s College of Earth & Environmental Sciences (CEES) arranged a training session for volunteers for the anti-dengue squad of the university.

The anti-dengue committee of PU comprising Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Muhammad Akram and Health Inspector of Health Department Lahore Fareed Ahmad Khan gave training of identification of potential sites for dengue growth and its surveillance and control to the volunteers.