Anarchy if masses become frustrated, says Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has appealed to the Supreme Court not to disappoint the nation regarding the accountability of the corrupt among the ruling elite by resorting to doctrine of necessity once again, and warned that if masses got frustrated the country could plunge into anarchy and civil war.

Speaking at a reception hosted by Lahore Tax Bar on Wednesday, he said the corrupt ruling elite had always been above the law and the constitution and never held accountable. He said the masses were once again having the feeling that some doctrine of necessity might be opened for the rulers this time again.

He said judiciary would have to bring the plunderers to the dock in order to prove its existence and supremacy. He said the elite had been ruling the country for the last 70 years, and when some one of them was about to fall in the net, all others rushed to save him. The JI chief said Panama Leaks was not a political case, it was an issue of national security and survival of the country.

The ruling clique was burdening the country under cruel taxes. The owner of 18 mills is paying the same tax as being paid by a common labourer, he said. He said those mentioned in Panama Leaks or those who got bank loans waved off must be brought to accountability whether they were in the government or the opposition.

Sirajul Haq said that according to international surveys, around five million people in the country were taxable but only 1.2 million were paying direct taxes. He said this was because the people did not trust the rulers or the tax department. He said rulers did not pay taxes or utility bills nor did the government agencies collect utilities bills from the mills/factory owners.

 He said the entire taxation system was flawed and must be revamped. He said around 1.4 million people in the county were suffering from cancer, 20 million children were out of school and the poor were forced to send their small children to do odd jobs to supplement family income.

Expressing complete solidarity with the armed forces against continued Indian aggression, Sirajul Haq said India was firing on this country the bullets made with the money earned through trade with Pakistan. He demanded the rulers to end trade ties with India and urged the nation to rise against the enemy next door. He said JI Sindh convention being held at Karachi on Nov 26 and Nov 27 would have good news for the poor and workers, and it would be against the forces of exploitation and injustice.

Tax Bar Association President Farhan Shahzad termed corruption the biggest problem in the country which gave birth to numerous other problems. He said that if the masses wanted development of the country, they would have to get rid of the corrupt rulers.