JI chief opposes more taxes

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq on Thursday urged the federal government to implement its promises and bring back the looted money to the country instead of levying more and more taxes on the people.

Addressing a function with regard to mass wedding ceremony arranged by Al-Khidmat Foundation here, the JI leader said that government had become a 'tax-levying machine' in its very initial days. He criticised the implementation of more taxes on salaried classes.

He said that subjecting the poor and salaried class would make the people suffer more. There was great need of a system wherein money should be collected from the rich and spent on the poor, he added.

Sirajul Haq also stressed the need for a stern and across-the-board accountability of the corrupt without any discrimination. "If fair and strict accountability is carried out, not only the foreign debts could be paid back, but also big dams could be built," he added. He was of the opinion that the government should take steps for overcoming corrupt practices and recover the looted money.

"The ruling party had made tall claims about recovering public money during their election campaign. Now it is high time for them to act upon what they had claimed. If they are able to bring back the looted money to the country there would be no need for collecting donations for constructing dams," the JI chief added. The corruption was rampant all around, he said, adding, the government should take action against all the 436 people mentioned in the Panama Papers Leaks.

He also opposed taking more loans from the IMF and World Bank. He said that every child of the country was indebted to IMF and World Bank. "The successive governments availed huge loans and spent them on their own luxuries instead of the well-being of the people," he added.

Referring to the government claims of making the country a welfare state,' Sirajul Haq said that in the Islamic State of Madina, the rulers were concerned about the well-being of the masses. "The current system in the country is based on the exploitation of the masses. It can never be referred to as welfare state," he added.

The function was addressed by the provincial acting president of Jamaat-e-Islami Noorul Haq, provincial president of Al-Khidmat Foundation Khalid Waqas Chamkani and others. As many as 50 couples tied the knot on the occasion. The JI chief solemnised their nikah. A grand walima was arranged and the brides and grooms were provided gifts.