Government is adopting delaying tactics in the Interest case: Dr Farid Paracha

Lahore: Deputy Secretary General, Jamaat e Islami, Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha, has accused the government of adopting delaying tactics in the Interest case and thus forcing the nation to devour prohibited and unlawful earnings.

He was addressing a press conference at Islamabad after filing a petition in the Federal Shariat Court for enlisting the Jamaat e Islami as a party in the case relating to interest pending before the court. He also prayed that the case be heard on day to day basis. Both the requests have been granted.  JI deputy chief Mian Muhammad Aslam, Maulana Abdul Ma’lik, Dr Ataur Rahman and other senior JI leaders were also present on the occasion.

Farid Piracha also urged the federal government not to support interest system before the Shariat Court and instead adopt concrete measures to wipe out interest in the light of the categorical  injunctions of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.

The JI central leader said that in 1991, the Federal Shariat Court had declared interest/ usury as repugnant to the Islamic teachings. Later, in 1999, the Shariat Appellate of Bench of the Supreme Court had

Upheld that decision and declared all interest related laws null and void and directed the government to take suitable steps for the wiping out interest system.  The court had also held that if the government failed to adopt necessary measures in this direction, all the laws related to interest would automatically stand abolished on 31^st of December 2009.

Dr Farid Paracha said that the Quaid e Azam, while inaugurating the State Bank of Pakistan soon after the creation of the country, had instructed the concerned authorities to take necessary measures for building the country’s economy on interest free basis. However, he said, unfortunately, the government itself was the greatest supporter of the interest system.

Farid Piracha said that at present, Pakistan was under debt to the tune of Rs. 900 billion dollars which included 70 billions foreign loans. He said that it was due to the interest system, that the country’s economy had been ruined. He said that according to a working paper issued by the IMF recently, the interest free, Islamic banking system was the best economic system.

The JI leader said that usury had crept into the entire society and no provincial government or any single institution could bring it o an end. Therefore, it was imperative that the government announced abolition of interest system to help wipe out the evil from the society.

Farid Piracha said that the Khyber PK government had taken some revolutionary steps which were appreciable. However, the menace of interest could be wiped out only if the federal government took the lead.