Siraj urges govt to check corruption

LAHORE : Jamaat-i-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq said if the government could only control rampant corruption devouring Rs. 12 billion daily from the public exchequer, it won’t need to go to the IMF or the World Bank.

Addressing a JI Punjab Shoora meeting at Mansoora on Saturday, he said the government would have to immediately start a strict and uniform accountability to achieve the goal, adding that accountability should be speedy as well as transparent. Sirajul Haq said a mechanism must be devised to retrieve the plundered wealth stashed abroad. At the same time, the noose should be tightened around the necks of people who had availed remission of huge bank loans, and those who had build palaces in London, Dubai and Paris.

He said if wealth stashed abroad started flowing into the country, the morale of the common citizen would go high and they would be ready to make every sacrifice for the country and the nation. He said the masses wanted to see behind bars people who had been sucking their blood for decades and were responsible for their deprivations. Therefore, the government should expedite the implementation of its agenda in this respect. JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, JI Punjab chief Mian Maqsood Ahmed and General Secretary Hafiz Bilal Qudrat Butt were al present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, addressing a JI ticket holders’ convention at Mansoora, JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch demanded the PTI government slash the taxes on POL products bringing their prices to a half in keeping with its own demand to the previous governments. He said the reduction in POL prices was a welcome step but the government should not be content with that only. He said people had high expectations from the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan would be facing a major test.