MANSEHRA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has declared Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ‘two sides of the same coin’ and said neither the sit-in organisers (PTI) nor the (PML-N) government was sincere in addressing the people’s problems and instead they were serving own political ends.

“The federal capital faces a serious political crisis due to the ongoing PTI sit-in in Islamabad but neither those organising it are willing to wrap it up nor is the government ready to render little sacrifices for the sake of the country. Both are playing dirty politics of own benefits,” Haq told a public meeting after inaugurating Agosh, an orphanage.

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Siraj said the nation had been suffering at the hands of ‘family limited’ political parties ruling the country for six decades.

“I think neither PTI is sincere in bringing about the real change in the country nor is the government working sincerely to address the people’s real issues like lawlessness, unemployment and health and education problems,” he said.

Siraj said the current and former rulers talked a lot about the people’s problems and their empowerment but they had appropriated $200 billion of taxpayers and stacked it in foreign banks.

He said had the money been in the country, the circumstances under which many people had to skip meals due to the abject poverty would have been different.

“We know neither Naya Pakistan nor the PML-N government’s policies guarantee a prosperous country. Only enforcement of Islamic laws guarantees the country’s progress,” he said.

The JI chief said his party has made a comprehensive welfare programme for poor segments of society and that the programme would be unveiled in the three-day party meeting scheduled to begin in Lahore on November 21.

He said his party was not against creation of new provinces in the country for good governance but it won’t support any move to create more federating units along ethnic lines.

Siraj said his party had long been supporting the creation of Hazara province on administrative basis.

“I firm believe that even though we create 50 more federating units in the country, our economy will not flourish. This will happen only by enforcement of Islamic laws in the country,” he said.

The JI chief said Jamaat leaders and activists were being victimised and executed in Bangladesh in the name of patriotism and therefore, Pakistan should take up the matter with Bangladesh through diplomatic channels.

“We demand that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raise voice against extra judicial killings of those who stood firm in Bangladesh for the cause of Pakistan and played an important role in the country’s creation,” he said.

Later, the JI chief told reporters that the holding of midterm general elections in the country would be a futile exercise until electoral reforms, which the PML-N government had agreed to during talks with PTI, were done.

“Neither midterm nor any other elections will be credible until clauses on electoral reforms are incorporated in election laws and are acted upon,” he said.

Siraj said his party would continue supporting the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it wanted to free the province from corruption and ensure public welfare.

Published in Dawn, October 30th , 2014