HYDERABAD: Expres­sing concern over rampant corruption in the country, Sindh Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Ameer Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui has said Pakistan and corruption cannot go side by side.

If articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were implemented, rulers of the country could not get opportunities of corruption, he added.

He was addressing a seminar titled ‘Corruption-free Pakistan’ held at the local press club here late on Monday. “Why did Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not declare the assets of his children regarding off-shore companies in the Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP)?” he asked.

He quoted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director as saying that corruption of Rs12billion-Rs15 billion was being committed daily in the country. He also claimed that aristocratic rulers of the country bought land worth $24 in Dubai and billions of dollars would be spent on the development of that land.

He said the Sindh government broke all the previous records of corruption and it claimed to have spent Rs92 billion on uplift works in Larkana, but infrastructure of Larkana looked like a debris.

He said former mayor of Karachi Naimatullah Khan, who belonged to the Jamaat, had changed the map of the city with Rs21 billion, he said.

Dr Meraj claimed that the Sindh government and MQM made an agreement that audit of Karachi and Hyder­abad municipal corporations would not be carried out.

He said the JI had planned in January to launch a campaign against rampant corruption in all the government departments as rulers of the country were involved in massive corruption while leaders like Sirajul Haque, Naimatullah Khan and Abdul Sattar Afghani were sincere and such honest personalities might lead people.

He said the drive must be launched and revelation of off-shore companies had strengthened the drive.

He said that if Nawaz Sharif could be billionaire by working on dysfunctional steel mill in Jeddah, Saudi Arab, why Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) was being destroyed deliberately where workers of the PSM were being deprived of salaries for several months.

He said Mr Sharif was an expert but why he was dragging the national institution (PSM) to a complete destruction and it was being pushed to privatisation.

He reiterated that Nawaz Sharif showed assets in the ECP, but he did not mention assets of off-shore companies of his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz.

The JI leader said massive corruption was being committed in the country debt in the presence of institutions like National Accountability Bur­eau (NAB), Federal Inves­ti­gation Agency (FIA) and Anti-corruption Estab­lish­ment (ACE).

He said rulers were involved in extortion and China cutting in Karachi. Baldia Factory in Karachi was torched when the demanded extortion money was not paid and the accused of that inferno got scot-free so far.

JI leaders Abdul Waheed Qureshi, Hafiz Tahir Majeed, Dr Saifur Rehman and others also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2016