Corruption bigger threat than ISIS, says Siraj

LAHORE

Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has termed corruption a bigger threat than ISIS and said it was highly unfortunate the department meant to wipe out corruption had also been involved in corruption as its eight top officials were suspended. 

Talking to the media after an inaugural session of JI central Shoora at Mansoora on Friday, he said if the plunder to the tune of Rs12 billion daily was controlled, the country could be freed from poverty, lawlessness besides foreign and domestic loans. He said if Governor’s rule was imposed in Sindh, the matter would not end. He said the Centre and the Sindh government had made the Karachi operation a matter of prestige due to which the people of Karachi were suffering and it was feared that the gains made so far would go waste. Sirajul Haq said NAB had failed to check corruption and recover the plundered public money from the corrupt. For instance, he said, there had been plunder of more than Rs. 10 trillion in departments of electricity and gas but the NAB could recover Rs. 5 billion only. “You don’t need tanks or guns to control corruption. All you require is correct information about people involved in it and stringent action against them,” he added.

He, however, added that the organisation and the people deputed to wipe out corruption must prove themselves a model of integrity and honesty and the JI would soon launch a drive against corruption.

Earlier, in his address to the JI central Shoora, Sirajul Haq said world powers were amassing arms and ammunition in Afghanistan instead of providing the Afghan people with bread, book and pen. He said previously, there were two players in the game but now the whole world was bent upon destroying Afghanistan. However, he said, the Army Chief’s visit to Kabul would strengthen the efforts for peace between the two countries and it was hoped that Pak- Afghan talks for peace would bear fruit. He said if talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government were successful, it would bring peace in the country and support efforts for development and prosperity of the region. Senator Sirajul Haq said several foreign powers were out to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and it was a test for Islamabad to carry the project ahead, saving it from internal dissent. The federal government should remove the reservations of smaller provinces on it. He said people of KP wanted not a road but industrial zones and the federal government should show flexibility.

He said the election system of country had become a game of wealth and billions were spent to secure a Senate seat in violation of the election rules. He said if Election Commission was unable to enforce its present rulers and regulations, any electoral reforms would also go waste.