QUETTA: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Saturday advised deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, saying that no one was above the law in the country.

Speaking at the Quetta Press Club’s ‘Hal Ahwal’ programme, he said that all segments of the society, including politicians, judges, generals and journalists, should be made accountable.

“No one is above the law in the country and everyone involved in corruption must be brought before the court of law,” he said, deploring the reaction of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) to the apex court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case.

“Nawaz Sharif and his family refused to appear before the accountability body, setting a negative precedent which would allow common citizens to disrespect courts of law,” the JI chief said.

He said his party’s campaign, launched 16 months ago, was not against any individual but was aimed at eliminating corruption. The JI chief was one of the petitioners in the Panama Papers case.

Advises ousted PM to accept apex court verdict

Mr Haq also demanded accountability of the governments of Pakistan Peoples Party and Pervez Musharraf, stressing that corruption had destroyed the country more than terrorism.

Referring to Nawaz Sharif’s GT Road cavalcade, the JI chief said, “Instead of accepting the court’s verdict, Sharif staged a rally to prove that politicians don’t respect the judiciary”.

Speaking on the vulnerable law and order situation in Balochistan, he said despite allocation of more than Rs30 billion, civilians and security forces were being targeted as the security situation was deteriorating drastically.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2017