LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman says that the country cannot progress without the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.

He said the rule of two families had distorted the Constitution through amendments of their own choice.

“Not only the judiciary but the entire system of justice has been destroyed. The wealthy can buy justice with money, while the poor spend their entire lives wandering through courts without receiving justice. This, he said, is a system of oppression and as long as it remains in place, the dream of development and prosperity cannot be realized.”

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman expressed these views while addressing a reception hosted at Mansoorah under the auspices of the Islamic Lawyers Movement in honour of newly-elected representatives and office-bearers of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Lahore Bar Association, Pakistan Tax Bar Association, Pakistan Business Forum, and Islamic Lawyers Movement Pakistan.

Other speakers at the event included Ziauddin Ansari advocate, Asad Manzoor Butt advocate, Babar Murtaza Khan, Irfan Hayat Bajwa, Sheikh Ehsanul Haq and Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Mangat. Former office-bearers, senior lawyers, and business representatives also attended.

Mr Rehman emphasised that judicial independence and restoration of the Constitution are the core points of the JI’s “Badal Dou Nizam” movement. He urged the lawyers to rise for the mission of restoring the Constitution and to support the movement.

The JI chief described the current justice system as a “decaying corpse”. Those who tamper with the Constitution were appointed to high offices while those who should be held accountable mock the courts, he said and added the country had been turned into a police state, where feudal lords and capitalists exploited the public by buying influence in courts and police stations.

He further said that mafias have taken control of power such as the sugar mafia, drug mafia, flour mafia, and petroleum mafia who are exploiting the public. The poor, farmers, and salaried class were paying taxes, while the wealthy and feudal elite remained unaccountable, he added.

He concluded that no government could face difficult challenges without public support.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026