TIMERGARA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Saturday said that only one accused out of the 437 named in the Panama Leaks scandal had been dealt with by the Supreme Court, and called for proceeding against the rest.

He was addressing a public meeting at Chakdara, which was also addressed by finance minister Muzafar Syed, JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and deputy chief Noorul Haq.

Sirajul Haq said that keeping silence on incarceration of Dr Aafia Siddique, execution of Mumtaz Qadri and JI leaders in Bangladesh and celebrating Divali with Hindus had sunk the boat of Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, who has been disqualified by the SC in the Panama Papers case.

He said the rulers had been plundering national wealth for decades and it was the right time for the nation to stand up against those corrupt rulers. He claimed that Gen retired Pervez Musharaf owned Rs40 million before coming into power but now he had Rs2 billion assets.

He said the JI wanted imposition of true Islamic law in the country where rulers considered themselves as ‘khadim’ servant of masses instead of being their masters. “We have launched a corruption-free Pakistan campaign and it needs public support,” Mr Haq said, adding that corruption had been damaging the country’s foundations.

The JI chief demanded of the federal government to include Chakdara-Shandur road in CPEC and construct a railway track from Khunjrab to Malakand.

CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS REJECTED: Provincial finance minister Muzafar Syed on Saturday said corruption allegations against him were baseless, and presented himself for accountability in the Bank of Khyber scam.

He was addressing a function at government high school, Shamshi Khan Talash, after inaugurating an IT laboratory there.

The minister announced Rs1.5 million for renovation of the school’s old building, Rs100,000 for science laboratory, provision of a 50KV power transformer, blacktopping of the school’s link road, installation of solar system and construction of two additional rooms at girls high school, Shamshi Khan.

Mr Syed said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had been spending huge funds on improvement of basic facilities at schools, adding an effective check and balance had been introduced in the education sector because of which the standard of education at government schools had improved.

He said he was aware of the problems being faced by local people and was committed to resolving them gradually.

The school’s students presented tableaus, speeches and songs and got applause from the audience.

PROBE SOUGHT: The village council members from Bazarak in Jandol on Saturday demanded of the local government and rural development department to take notice of the irregularities being committed by their village chairman in payment of his office rent and initiate an inquiry against him.

Speaking at a news conference at the Timergara Press Club, the Bazarak village council naib nazim Haidar Ali, councillors Bakht Munir and Islamul Haq alleged that the village council nazim Shafiullah had been drawing Rs40,000 for office rent but paid only Rs15,000 to the owner.

They said the nazim gave two water pumps to each councillor but reserved 11 for himself, and complained that the councillors were also not being paid honoraria.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2017