LOWER DIR: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Wednesday said civilians should be tried by anti-terrorism and civil courts and not military courts.

He, however, said the people found involved in the May 9-10 riots and attacks on government and military installations should be punished.

“There is no need for military courts to try civilians as the anti-terrorism and civil courts are already there. However, there shouldn’t be any clemency for the people involved in the May 9-10 vandalism,” Mr Siraj told reporters at a hotel in the Timergara area here.

Former MNA Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, JI leaders Izazul Mulk Afkari and Shad Nawaz Khan, Dir Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Mian Noor Alam Bacha, and trader leaders Haji Anwaruddin, Hameedur Rehman and Dr Noor Mohammad were also present on the occasion.

The JI chief demanded of the government to immediately bifurcate Malakand division saying the division is the largest in the country with a population of over nine million.

He also called for the restoration of the economic and industrial zone in Malakand under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Mr Siraj said Malakand should be declared a tax-free zone until 2030.

“We [Jamaat] have planned a massive drive to claim rights for Malakand division,” he said.

The JI leader said Malakand division had great potential for tourism development but the successive governments did nothing for it.

He also complained that the region’s residents lacked basic facilities.

Mr Siraj criticised the PDM government over “poor” socioeconomic policies and said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration had failed to deliver.

“It seems there is no government in the centre as well as provinces,” he said.

The JI chief said the people were badly hit by record inflation, especially the escalating prices of essential goods.

He said both PDM and PTI were equally responsible for the current economic and political mess in the country as they’re more interested in accumulating money than serving the people.

Mr Siraj demanded of the government to announce general elections and said free, fair and transparent polls were the only solution to the current crises facing the country.

He alleged that the PPP leadership and Sindh government violated the Constitution and democratic norms during the Karachi mayor’s election to get the party’s nominee elected.

The JI chief said his party would stage a rally outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s offices in Islamabad on June 23 against the Karachi mayor election.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2023