December 16 darkest day in the history of Pakistan: Siraj

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq has said that December 16 is the darkest day in the history of Pakistan and the nation will never be able to forget the two heart-wrenching tragedies.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the top JI leader said 50 years had passed to the “Fall of Dhaka” and the nation was marking the seventh anniversary of the Army Public School incident but the wounds of the tragedies were still fresh in the minds of people.

“I pay tribute to the martyrs of the APS and their parents,” he said, demanding the government to implement the National Action Plan in letter and spirit to counter terrorism and conspiracies against the stability and sovereignty of the country.

The nation, he said, should stand united, rising above the prejudices on account of provincialism, language and caste, etc. He said the enemies of Islam and Pakistan were plotting to divide the nation on sectarian basis but their conspiracies would never succeed. “I believe Pakistan will live till the dawn of the day of judgment,” the JI Ameer said.

Sirajul Haq highlighted the need to learn the lesson from the incident of separation of East Pakistan from its western wing 50 years ago. He said he believed had the country been given an Islamic system soon after the independence, the breaking away of Pakistan could have been averted. He said the ruling elite and feudal lords took control of the country soon after the death of Quaid-e-Azam and they never thought about addressing the deprivations of the people of then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

He said the same ruling elite was controlling the remaining Pakistan and they were least bothered to address the miseries of common man. He said India’s interference and conspiracy were the main reasons behind the fall of Dhaka.

The enemy, he warned, was still making plots to destabilize the country. Sirajul Haq appealed to the people to choose pious and competent leadership for the country in elections. He said Pakistan needed Quran and Sunnah based system to get on track to development.