Won’t lend JI street power to others’ agenda: Baloch

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami has decided not to allow its workers’ street power to be used by other Opposition parties which have their own priorities and objectives that do not always match with those of the JI.

“We have decided to play the politics of the Opposition from our own platform and give tough time to the PTI government against its policies of ‘IMF slavery’ and suppressing democratic forces,” JI Naib Ameer Liaqat Baloch said while talking to The News Wednesday.

Asked if JI would be left out by not participating in the Opposition’s APC, Baloch said it was not All Parties Conference but multi-party conference (MPC) since a few noted Opposition parties were not there. He said the JI had welcomed the APC and would wait to see the outcome and strategy devised by the Conference to take its own decision. He said JI’s policy-makers believed that politics of alliances had proved to be detrimental for JI’s public image since other parties took advantage of JI workers’ street power for their own objectives.

He said the JI had already launched its movement against corruption, price hike and IMF slavery of the PTI government which had become the voice of all sections of the society. He said the PTI came to power through rigged and engineered elections and all political parties chose to remain silent on establishment’s blatant interference in 2018 polls despite witnessing it and hoping Imran Khan fulfilled its electoral promises; but he said the government had become insensitive to the masses’ problems and wielding state power to crush the political dissent and masses’ criticism of its IMF slavery. “What disappointed the masses most was the fact that Imran proved himself to be the most incompetent, visionless and directionless prime minister during the 10 month rule,” he added.

To a question that it was feared JI would be left far behind other Opposition parties if it missed the bus of the struggle to establish supremacy of political forces against the establishment’s manipulation, Baloch said direct clash with the establishment was not necessary in politics, especially at a time when country’s eastern and western borders were under direct threats, while the US was trying to set the Iran border ablaze. He said the powers that brought PTI government and those who had supported it had expected a lot from the party but everybody now stood disappointed.

He said the National Assembly had not passed the budget as yet but the PTI government was increasing the prices of gas, food items, electricity and cement which showed gross incompetence and dictatorial nature of the government. He said the government was bent upon sucking the last drop of blood of the people, adding the price hike caused due to record rise in dollar rate had made the life of common man hell.