March 25, 2006	Saturday	Safar 24, 1427

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PESHAWAR, March 24: Senior minister and provincial chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Sirajul Haq has held military rulers responsible for the present situation in the country. He stressed the need for bringing an Islamic revolution to end the vices of dictatorship.

Making an opening speech at the three-day congregation of his party at Wapda Colony some 12 kms east of Peshawar, Mr Haq said the military had made 160 million people hostage to run the political show in the country, but the JI would not allow any dictator to carry out an American agenda and kill Pakistani citizens in the name of the so-called war on terrorism.

He said the primary objective of the armed forces was to defend the country and not to make their own people hostage.

He said: “The people of Pakistan have been spending a huge chunk of the national budget on their armed forces to defend borders of the country, but our 80,000 troops stationed on the Pakistan-Afghan border are engaged in serving US interests”. The armed forces had been trained to prepare themselves for jihad, but their commander was busy in making a soft-image of the country abroad, he added.

Mr Haq said military rulers had betrayed the sacrifices of Kashmiris and were now trying to find a weak solution for the Kashmir issue. The rulers had given unprecedented concession to the Indian government in the name of peaceful political measures and cultural understanding, which was not acceptable to the 160 million people, he added.

He said Pakistan was a fortress of Islam and the Jamaat would not allow the military rulers to convert it into a secular state. He said the country had forcibly been run by the civil-cum-military setup for most part of the political history of the country. He said this pro-western ruling coalition had not only abrogated the constitution, but gagged the free press through draconian measures.

He alleged that an adventurist class had fathered the Jinnah League, Awami League, Convention League, People’s Party, Nawaz League and the Q League and destroyed the political norms in Pakistan. This ruling mafia had forcibly been occupying the political power by using various banners, he added.

Mr Haq said 500 families, who had been controlling the politics, trade, industry, banking, administration, military and police were linked through inter-marriages. They had got the country divided in 1970 for their personal gains and now they had sold out Pakistan’s air-bases to the United States, he added.

He alleged that the ruling mafia had created terrorist organisations and provided lists of Mujahideen to the Indian government.

He said late Maulana Maudoodi had launched the JI some 58 years ago to establish the kingdom of God on earth and Jamaat had been struggling to achieve this goal in Pakistan.