PTI to shun violence and sit on the negotiation table: Sirajul Haq

Lahore: Ameer Jamaat e Islami Pakistan Sirajul Haq, has said  that the country had been facing a series of crises for the last four months and if the political leadership did not behave prudently, the history of 1977 could be repeated.

He appealed to the government as also the PTI to shun violence and sit on the negotiation table. He was speaking at a reception hosted at Mansoora for the organizers of the JI Ijtema at the Minar e Pakistan last month.

The JI chief said the government itself had claimed that the country was incurring financial loss to the tune of more than Rs. 64 billion per day because of the sit-ins and protests. He said in such a situation, the government itself should be the first to shake their ego and show seriousness for talks. He said that setting preconditions for talks was tantamount to blocking dialogue. He said that while he was trying hard to bring the two sides sit together, some people were trying to spoil the situation in order to politicize on dead bodies.

The JI chief welcomed the statement of the Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif that the IDPs should get ready t for going back to their homes. However, he hoped that the process would be started soon.

Sirajul Haq said it was a pity that appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner had also been made on the pressure of the Supreme Court. However, he said, it was imperative that the Election Commission was made fully autonomous as in India.He said that a Berlin wall had been built among the masses on the basis of race, region and colour however, he said the JI would demolish this wall of hatred and unite the nation.He said that in order to build Pakistan as a model Islamic welfare state, the Shariah must be enforced in the country.

The JI chief said that the government had not reduced the POL prices proportionate to the fall in the POL prices in the world market. Moreover, the common man had not benefited from this decision.