Privatization of state institutions is aimed at obliging favourites: JI

Lahore: Ameer,  Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said the privatization of  state institutions was aimed at obliging favourites and opening new avenues of corruption, and the JI would strongly resist the move.

Addressing the general council meeting of the National Labour Federation (NLF) at Mansoora on Sunday, he said the nation had already faced the dire consequences of privatization. Dolling out major state institutions to the cronies of the rulers on throw away prices would result in massive unemployment at a time when poverty and joblessness had already made the life of the millions miserable, he said.

He said dozens of people were committing suicide because of the hardships and price spiral caused by the present government.

He said the JI would convene an APC in November to take other parties in confidence on the issue and mobilize public opinion against privatization.

The JI Ameer said the PML(N) in its election manifesto, had promised end to unemployment besides creation of new jobs for the workers but its leadership had forgotten these promises after coming to power and had levied new and heavy taxes on the masses on the IMF dictation. The PML(N) government had broken all records in terms of losing popularity during its five months rule because of its anti people steps, he said.

Commenting on the Khyber P. Chief Minister’s statement threatening to stop NATO supplies if drone stacks did not end, Syed Munawar Hasan said such a statement should come from the federal government which had the authority to stop the supplies. He said the federal government should give a dead line to the US for ending drone attacks failing which the NATO supplies would be stopped, and resume control of our airports/  air bases and end every form of cooperation with the NATO. Such a step would have serious repercussion for the US and its allies, he said.

Syed Munawar Hasan said that the Prime Minister’s visit to the US had only made Pakistan a laughing stock as Mian Nawaz Sharif could not even put his demands before the US President. On the other hand, President Obama repeated all that Indian Premier Manmohan Singh had whispered to him at their meeting a month before.

About the Pak- Taliban talks, he said so far, the talks had not started and remarked that the talks should be seen to be taking place.

The JI Ameer said that the general public had by now lost faith in the May elections as the cat was already out of the bag especially after evidence of massive bogus voting in Karachi. The winners as well as the losing parties were leveling allegations of rigging and bogus voting in the May polls and the situation could also affect the assemblies because the general public may lose faith in the ballot and take to the path of  revolution.

In the past, the street power had changed the situation especially at the time of framing of the 1973 constitution and later the Nizam e Mustafa movement.