MARDAN: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq on Monday said his party would protect mosques and seminaries in the country at all costs.

“We can’t stand the humiliation of ulema, mosques and seminaries and will resist any attempt to harm them,” he said during a public meeting at Jaiwor area in Takhtbai tehsil.

The JI emir said his party would pay salary to prayer leaders of mosques every month after coming to power.

He said the nation should get united under the current delicate circumstances.

Haq said the Islamic system of governance offered the only solution to the country’s problems, including terrorism, loadshedding and unemployment.

He expressed concern over the Army Public School Peshawar carnage and asked the government to ensure speedy probe into it for the punishment of its perpetrators.

The JI emir said the US and its allies had admitted their failure in restoring peace in Afghanistan. He said his party would clear Pakistan of the US agents in 2015 with the help of the people.

Haq said his party had been striving for the introduction of Islamic system of governance in the country and would need the people’s support for it. He said few moneyed families had been ruling and looting the country since its creation 67 years ago.

The JI emir said former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was to blame for terrorism in the country and that currently, the country faced an extraordinary security situation.

He said the ruling elite didn’t care for the poor people and instead it served own interests.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2014