Every political party has the right to protest : Liaqat Baloch

Lahore: A Jamaat e Islami delegation headed by JI Secretary General, Liaqat Baloch on Monday visited the relief camps for the IDPs from North Waziristan at Bannu and distributed relief material and food packets among the affected families.

The delegation included JI deputy chief Asadullah Bhutto, JI chief from Azad Kashmir, Abdur Rashid Turabi,  JI Balochsitan chief, Abdul Mateen Akhundzada, and others.

Talking to the media on the occasion, Liaqat Baloch said that the responsibility for displacing lakhs of people from their homes in the present extreme weather and the holy month of Ramazan lay directly with the government. He said the national leadership had given Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a mandate for dialogue. However, the government started military operation under outside pressure, ignoring the dictates of national unity and harmony, leaving the IDPs stranded all around.

The JI Secretary General said that incompetent and corrupt rulers, despite having all the resources, had left the around eight lakhs IDPs unattended as only a few private welfare organizations including the Al-Khidmat Foundation  were in the field to serve the affected people.

Liaqat Baloch said that the drones as well as the army were bombing the tribal areas and innocent women and children were falling victims. He said if 80 per cent of the area was clear and under army control, the affected families should be given an opportunity to return to their homes before Eid.

He said the government, the armed forces and the political forces should be on the same page for resolving the problems facing the country. He said if the government did not see reason, the country would be heading towards a great human tragedy.

To a question relating to Independence march an revolution, he said that every political party had the right to protest. However, democracy should not be derailed as the country could not afford another adventurer.

To a question about Israel bombings on innocent Palestinians, he said it was tragic that the world had shut its eyes to the issue while the US and Europe were backing Israel the agenda to split the Muslim world. He said that even Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had kept silence after issuing a single bold statement.

Secretary Al-Khidmat Foundation, Abdul Shakoor, and Al-Khidmat chief for the Khyber P. Noorul Haq, briefed the delegation about the relief work of the organization. The delegation went round five relief camps to oversee the relief activities going on there. The UNHCR and NADRA officials on the spot also briefed the delegation about the registration of the IDPs and the international aid being received.