Govt, PDM fighting only for power: Siraj

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq on Thursday said the federal government and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are fighting mainly for the chair.

The PDM’s component parties, mainly the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, had supported the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government on every occasion, including on selling out Kashmir, destroying the economy, dooming education, accepting the slavery of World Bank and IMF, and passing FATF-related laws, said Siraj, while addressing an event organised by the Karachi Bar Association (KBA),

The JI chief said the federal government and PDM were also on the same page on setting up military courts and giving an extension to the chief of the army staff.

Siraj said the federal government in its 950 days had shown its incompetence, dishonesty and bad governance. “The government has completely failed to give any relief to the people of Pakistan,” he said.

Criticising the PPP for its bad governance in Sindh, Siraj said the PDM wants to bring a revolution but would they tell what revolution the Sindh government has brought in the province during the past 13 years. Residents of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana are still drinking sewage-mixed water. The megacity Karachi has been ruined where people do not have proper facilities of public transport, water and electricity.

He said the ruling parties in Sindh and the Center have been fooling Karachi’s residents. “No one knows the whereabouts of the Rs 1,100 billion package for Karachi,” he said.

Criticising the federal government for approving the “controversial 2017 census” of Karachi, the JI chief said the metropolis’ genuine population is three crore but half of the population has been decreased in a fraudulent way.

The JI chief also said brave lawyers had always fought for the rule of law and justice and restoration of democracy in Pakistan. “The legal fraternity, particularly KBA, have opposed the doctrine of necessity and never compromised on principle.”

He said that JI’s politics and bar’s principles have no contradiction and, therefore, the party invites lawyers to join hands and struggle for dispensing justice, strict and impartial accountability and the rule of law and Constitution.

KBA President Naeem Qureshi and General Secretary Amir Nawaz Warraich also spoke at the event while Islamic Lawyers Movement leaders Syed Shahid Ali, Abdul Samad Khattak, Syed Shujaul Nabi, Iqbal Aqeel and others were also present.