PTI’s steps in first two months disappointed people: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has warned against the possibility of a fresh mass movement for accountability of the corrupt, saying if it happened it would be a big tragedy for the nation.

Talking to media after addressing the JI central workshop for workers at Mansoora on Thursday, he appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the huge amounts of plundered public wealth stashed abroad and take suitable steps for bringing it back to the country. Sirajul Haq said more than 150 cases of mega scandals were lying with the NAB but the government and NAB were silent on these. Likewise, no action had so far been initiated against the other 436 persons named in the Panama Leaks.

He said the decisions taken by the PTI government during its first two months had disappointed the people and added to their worries. Such policies needed to be discarded. He said the country was not facing any emergency or any catastrophe but within a day, the burden of loans had increased tremendously. US dollar had soared to a record height and Pakistan rupee reduced to a worthless piece of paper as even Bengali Takka and the Afghan currency had more value. He reiterated that the government must not beg before IMF for fresh loans. Instead, he said, the government should switch over to the interest-free banking and introduce the system of Zakat and Ushr and also take the nation and the political leadership in confidence on this issue. He noted that the PTI government was following the same policies it had been criticising in the past terming them suicide.

He said contradictory statements of the ministers were confusing the people. He said much confusion had been created about the CPEC and it had become necessary for the government to hold an APC to clear the situation and take the political leadership in confidence on this mega project. Referring to Kashmir issue, Sirajul Haq said that the government should give a clear road map for the liberation of Kashmir and the country should have a permanent state policy on Kashmir which was not changed with the change of government. He said Kashmiris were rendering great sacrifices for the completion of Pakistan and these sacrifices should not go waste.

Earlier, addressing a meeting, JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said the developments regarding Punjab police during the first two months of the PTI government had ruined the goodwill of the rulers and shattered their tall claims. He said that change under Prime Minister Imran Khan would be possible only when the government abandoned the dark and destructive policies followed by the past governments.