Concern over economic situation, Kashmir

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami leaders have expressed concern over the deteriorating situation of economy and law and order in the country.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, the JI leaders also criticised the silence of the world over Kashmir issue. JI Naib Amir Liaqat Baloch said the Indian state had been unleashing brutality on the people of Kashmir for more than 70 years but the violence touched new peaks on August 5. He said the UN had given the right to self determination to the Kashmiris but it could not be exercised in the Indian occupied Kashmir for many decades. He appealed to the international community to play its role in implementation of the UN resolutions on Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK).

He said the Muslims of Pakistan would never allow amendment to blasphemy laws. He said religious parties in the country were united on one-point agenda that they would protect the laws concerning the religious identity of the country at all cost, no matter what political differences they had.

JI Naib Amir Dr Farid Paracha said the reports of the State Bank and the IMF on the country’s economy were a matter of grave concern for every Pakistani. According to both reports, Dr Paracha said, the devaluation of rupee led to the rise in inflation. He said the poor and middle classes were the victims of bad economy as they could not afford purchasing basic commodities of daily life. He said the government imposed heavy taxes on the working class and small traders while the big fish and corrupt mafia were set free.

JI Naib Amir Rashid Naseem said the curfew entered 49th day in Kashmir and millions of people had no access to food and medicines. The people of IHK, he added, were not allowed to go to masques while school, hospitals and markers were also closed. He said India had turned Kashmir into the biggest prison in world.