Sindh government to grant powers to the local bodies:Senator Sirajul Haq

Lahore: Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator Sirajul Haq, has said that the PPP-MQM conflict was obstructing the progress and development work in Karachi and the people of the mega city were facing numerous problems. He was speaking at Meet the Press programme of the Karachi press Club, on Thursday.

Sirajul Haq said that Karachi was the ideological and economic hub of the country and also mini Pakistan. He stressed upon the Sindh government to grant powers to the local bodies and assured that  the JI would extend its full cooperation for the development and uplift of the port city.

“We believe in solving he problems of the people of Karachi by forgetting the political differences and past bitterness”,he added.

The JI chief urged the federal government to play the role of mediator to resolve the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran and added that it would be a great service to Saudi Arabia to save her from a war.

Sirajul Haq said that friendship with India without resolving the Kashmir issue would amount to betraying the Kashmiris and Kashmiri martyrs.

He said that the country was in the control of political pundits who were plundering national wealth and keeping their eyes shut to the miseries of the masses. He said the benefit of the IMF and World Bank loans went only to the ruling elite who had palaces and businesses abroad. He said the JI was trying to create an awakening among the poor against the oppressive rulers.

He said that the terrorist attack at Charsada showed that the government had failed to implement the NAP against terrorism. He said that government was harassing the Ulema and madrissahs under the western propaganda although the Ulema and the masque had always provided true guidance to the masses. He said that militancy in the country was the outcome of political and economic terrorism in the country. Stressing the need for electoral reforms, he said that candidates for by elections in the Punjab had spent billions to win a seat. How can a poor man contest elections in this system, he asked.

Sirajul Haq said that the Muslim world was facing hard times and suggested that that the Muslim countries should have their own defense and economic system. He said that in Afghanistan, there was need to for rapprochement among the Taliban, Afghan government and the Hizb e Islami. He said that China could also play its role in improving the situation in Afghanistan. However, he said, that as long as the US remained in Afghanistan peace could not return there.

To a question, he said, that Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif’s announcement not to accept extension in service had raised his prestige.