LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senior Minister Sirajul Haq took oath as the fifth emir of the Jamaat-i-Islami here on Wednesday.

According to those present on the occasion, never was such enthusiasm witnessed in an otherwise solemn ceremony which was electrified by the presence of young activists who had come from across the country, particularly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Cabinet colleagues of Mr Haq and the speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly were prominent among the participants.

A large number of participants kept raising slogans, prompting secretary general Liaquat Baloch, who acted as stage secretary, to disallow use of the podium by the enthusiastic activists.

In his speech, Mr Haq said that a tiny elite class was exploiting all economic and political resources to the disadvantage of the masses. “This class is responsible for all the economic, social and political ills plaguing the country,” the JI chief observed.

Unlike his predecessors, in his maiden speech as his party’s chief, he talked of problems like poverty, loadshedding, lawlessness and unemployment instead of focusing on religious subjects.

He urged the masses to stand up for snatching their rights from the usurpers.

However, he reiterated his party’s stance that any change in the country would be brought through peaceful and constitutional means. “The JI does not believe in underground politics and intrigues.”

In another first, Sirajul Haq publicly demanded that the Saudi Arabian government reconsider its policy towards the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Hamas of Palestine.

Sources told Dawn that the JI had earlier arranged a meeting of representatives of the two organisations with Saudi diplomats.

Mr Haq also stressed the need for rehabilitation of people displaced from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and an end to all injustice done to the Baloch people.

Although he held the electoral system responsible for all deficiencies of governance, Mr Haq declared that the Jamaat would take part in local bodies elections as well as other polls.

The war against the prevalent system could not be fought alone and other parties would have to be taken along while keeping the JI’s ideological identity intact, the JI chief said.

Praising the services of the army and police in protecting the lives of people, he opposed an army operation in North Waziristan even if talks with the Taliban failed.

Highlighting his leanings by declaring himself as son of ‘Maulvi’ Ehsanul Haq, he talked of Jihad but instead of urging the people to join an armed struggle, asked them to launch a struggle against lawlessness, corruption, loadshedding and forces of exploitation.

Sirajul Haq said his party believed in friendly relations with all neighbouring countries, but linked normalisation with India to resolution of the Kashmir issue.