LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq has called upon the government to set up consulates in major towns abroad where the facility does not exist so far and make necessary arrangements for the release of hundreds of Pakistanis imprisoned in US, India and other countries.

He was addressing a press conference at Mansoora in the presence of the representatives of overseas Pakistanis from 20 countries.

General secretary Liaquat Baloch, foreign wing chief Abdul Ghaffar Aziz, and information secretary Amirul Azeem, were also present.

Mr Haq said around nine million overseas Pakistanis were the ambassadors of the country and they should be granted right to vote for the 2018 elections.

He said it was a pity that the overseas Pakistanis remitting billions of dollars to the country but did not have any say in the formation of the government.

The JI chief said the government had never tried to ascertain the problems of the expatriates nor considered its duty to solve their difficulties. He said taking the overseas Pakistanis into confidence was essential for saving the country from isolation.

In reply to a question, he said the government was not ready for accountability whereas the masses, who were tired of corruption, wanted ruthless accountability. He said if the government was adopting delaying tactics, the Chief Justice of Pakistan should take suo motu notice and set up a judicial commission for probe into Panama leaks.

Mr Haq said the Pakistanis abroad were sick of corruption, commissions and inefficiency of the embassies abroad while the government was not giving any attention to the establishment of consulates in major towns for their assistance.

He said the overseas Pakistanis had to pay a heavy fee for the issuance of new national identity cards and their renewal while they had to come to the country for renewal of passports. Mr Baloch said the coterie of the corrupt in the government and the opposition was creating hurdles in the setting up of the judicial commission for Panama leaks but the masses would foil all such conspiracies.

He lamented that the NAB and other institutions for accountability were not attending to the hundreds of mega corruption scandals while poverty had made the life of the common man miserable.

He said the corrupt elite had destroyed the country’s agriculture and industry making the life of farmers and workers difficult.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2016