LAHORE: The Jamaat-i-Islami has decided to launch a membership drive next week, for the first time opening its doors even to religious minorities living in the country.

This was announced by party emir Senator Sirajul Haq at a press conference here on Sunday.

He said local JI leaders would go door-to-door in every village and town during the drive from April 3 to 15, conveying to the people the social, political and economic programme of the party and enlist new members.

All communities living in the country, including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs, would also be invited and inducted into the JI, he added.

He said the JI had opened its doors to the common man so that competent people having good reputation could become its members and “rise to higher positions in society”.

Senator Haq said a change was not possible merely by cursing oppressors, plunderers and corrupt rulers. For a change, the masses would have to make a common cause with the JI on this score and join its struggle, he added.

He said the public was witness to “credibility” of his party members. However, he said, simply paying lip service to the “good conduct of the party was not enough, and the people should step forward and join its struggle for an Islamic revolution which alone could bring stability and prosperity to the country”.

He said the conflict in the country was not between nationalities, it was between the oppressor and the oppressed. He said Pakistan had lost its eastern wing only because of the “tussle between the tyrant and the oppressed”. However, he said, the oppressor could not be allowed to play with the destiny of the country any more.

He said it was unfortunate that the oppressed and the deprived masses in the country stood divided while the corrupt tyrants were united to protect their interests.

Replying to a question, the JI chief said the US and Israel had always benefited from the wars in Gulf region that enabled them to weaken the Muslims and grab their resources. As such, the leaders of the Muslim world should sit together and devise a strategy to foil the enemy plans, he added.

He said Turkey and Pakistan should play mediator’s role in the Gulf crisis so that Saudi Arabia-Iran confrontation could be prevented from becoming intense.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play