Govt relief could not reach even working class of Islamabad: Sirajul Haq

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq said though the PTI government was claiming to have distributed billions of rupees under Ehsas programme, yet the ground situation was quite the opposite as millions of poor were searching after the relief promised by Prime Minister Imran Khan and even the promised relief could not reach the working class of Islamabad.

Addressing meetings with different delegations at Mansoorah on Sunday, he said all over the country poor people were chasing PTI workers and leaders for help but in vain. He said even the rulers would not have complete knowledge as to where the billions of rupees were spent. He remarked that before setting up the Tiger Force, Prime Minister Imran Khan should have thought how the poor people could catch a tiger. Sirajul Haq said in the tug-of-war between the Centre and the Sindh government, only the people were the losers. He said the statements from both sides clearly indicated that their only agenda was to realize their own goal and not the service of the people. Questioning the logic of Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the lockdown in Karachi as unjustified, Siraj asked whether the coronavirus in Karachi and Islamabad was different. He said the actual intentions of the federal government had so far been not clear and its actions were belying its sincerity towards the welfare of poor people. He said that Prime Minister was saying that lockdown was not the solution while it continued in all the four provinces. He asked if the elite was more powerful than the government and the establishment, and had forced them to lock down the country.

Meanwhile, in his message on World Press Freedom Day, Senator Sirajul Haq paid tributes to the journalists who had offered their lives for the freedom of the press. He said every political party made tall claims of freedom of the press but after coming to power, its first step was to curb the freedom. However, he said, the JI would always stand for the freedom of the press and the rights of the media.