LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Senator Sirajul Haq said on Saturday though the PPP had been scrupulously observing ZA Bhutto’s anniversaries, it failed to implement its founder’s socio-economic programme.

The poor were still striving for ‘Roti, Kapra and Makan’ (food, clothing and housing facilities promised by ZAB) whereas the palaces of the rich were increasing with every passing day, he said. He was addressing different gatherings in the Punjab capital, marking the start of the JI’s membership drive.

The senator said the Pakistan Movement was launched from Lahore and the JI had now begun its struggle for the “completion of Pakistan” from the same city.

He said he was trying to bring the poor workers, labourers, Tonga wallahs on one platform, and added that the day the poor realised their power would be the last day of the rule of the tyrant Vaderas (feudal lords) and capitalists, and whoever tried to challenge the might of the masses would perish.

The JI chief welcomed the formation of the Judicial Commission and said the agreement between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was a big achievement for him and the political Jirga.

He reiterated that Pakistan and Turkey should play the role of mediator between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He questioned the OIC’s role and said the organisation should immediately step forward to end the war between two Muslim states which would only benefit the US and Israel. He said the defence of Saudi Arabia was the responsibility of the entire Muslim world.

Mr Haq said the corrupt elite that had been ruling the country for the last 68 years was denying the poor even the right to live. The masses had been crushed due to unemployment and price spiral. .

He urged the poor to rise for a change in the social set-up, and assured them that the JI was fully prepared to take the elite to the task for their misdeeds, corruption and plunder. The JI had a clean past without any blot of corruption, permits or plots on its record, he claimed.

Sirajul Haq condemned the removal of the PTI electoral camps allegedly by the MQM in Karachi and said the Muttahida workers and their leader Altaf Husain should learn from their past mistakes, and the “culture of the terrorism” in the party should be changed. He, however, said if the Election Commission failed to hold fair, free and impartial poll in Karachi, a number of questions would arise.

Meanwhile, the JI emir said the murder of teenager Zain was a test case for the chief minister and the judiciary as tyranny could not be wiped out without establishing the rule of the Constitution and the law.

Talking to the media at the residence of Zain where he had gone to express his condolences with the family, he said society must be cleansed from arms.

He said if an attempt was made to save the killer or the aggrieved family was denied justice, the JI would stand by the victim party. The influential could not be allowed to play with the lives of the poor, he said.

He said the country was being ruled by the elite who were indulged in all sorts of illegalities and crime on the strength of their wealth and authority. The children of big politicians were brandishing weapons in the public in broad daylight without any fear.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

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