Struggle to get rid of status quo forces real jihad: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Sirajul Haq has reiterated that real jihad for the people is to wage struggle to get rid of forces and parties maintaining the status quo, which is the root cause of the corrupt capitalist system, pushing the masses under poverty, deprivations and calamities.

The problems of the nation will not end without addressing the main issue, he said while addressing the main ceremony of the 81st foundation day of his party at Mansoorah on Friday. Countrywide events were held to mark the event where people vowed to bring about Islamic revolution in Pakistan. Jamiat Ahlehadith leader Hafiz Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, JI leader Hafiz Idrees, Zikrullah Mujahid, Qaisar Sharif and columnist Hafeezullah Niazi also attended the event.

Sirajul Haq said the federal and provincial governments had left alone millions of people in flood-hit areas. “I spent five days in the flood affected areas of Sindh and Southern Punjab and saw the helplessness of people.” He said it was not the first time the rulers had abandoned the masses. He said the government announced funds were not reaching to the victims and the administration was also absent from the calamity-hit areas.

He said the country had gone through different experiences of government in past 75 years. It saw, he added, dictatorships and so-called rule of the three mainstream parties (PML-N, PPP and PTI). They all failed to deliver, he said, adding the country now needed only Islamic system. The JI, he said, was struggling to transform Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state. He said the world of colonialism was not allowing Islamic movements to come to power even through a democratic process. He said that the Islamic movements all over the world had gone ahead despite strong opposition by the international establishment. He said that in spite of the hostility of the international establishment, the JI was against securing power through undemocratic or underground means.

He said that at a time when there was darkness all around, only a handful of noble people had gathered around Syed Abul Ala Maodoodi and by now, this movement had an impact all over the world. He said that the JI was not prepared to accept the slavery of the world establishment.

He also appealed to the nation to donate generously for flood victims in Sindh, Balochistan and Southern Punjab. Earlier, he went to Gujranwala to address a protest demonstration against inflated electricity bills where he warned the rulers against anti-people policies.