LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Senator Sirajul Haq has said the establishment tries to influence every election in the country providing an opportunity to people to point a finger at its role in politics.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said that time had come that the establishment proved its neutrality.

“There is a need to negate the impression that a powerful institution is backing a political party or a politician. Let the people choose their leader in a fair, democratic process,” Siraj said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the central executive committee of the party.

The meeting discussed the national political scene and decided to launch a movement against inflation, unemployment and privatisation of national institutions.

The JI emir said the nation stood firm with the armed forces and had a great regard and love for the soldiers who were ready to sacrifice their lives in defence of the country.

In the presence of an enemy like India, that was constantly hatching conspiracies to destabilise the country, there was a dire need of a strong army, he added.

But, he added, the establishment’s role became controversial as the impression about its impartiality in national politics was lost. The powerful institution should revisit its approach for the sake of democratic future of the country, he emphasised.

Lashing out at the government for its policy of privatization, the senator said the Steel Mills, PIA, Pakistan Railways and other institutions were national assets and instead of selling these assets at throwaway prices, the government should try to fix the problems and make them profitable entities.

Action should be taken against those who intentionally destroyed these institutions just to secure their own interests, he demanded.

The JI chief expressed concern over the crimes against humanity in India-held Kashmir, demanding the international community to take notice of Indian atrocities in the held valley.

He lamented that the issue of missing persons was yet to be resolved despite passage of many years.

He asked the government to renovate the six temples that were in a dilapidated condition for decades in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi instead of taking ‘pretentious’ measures for the minorities just to prove itself secular in the eyes of the West.

He said the three so-called mainstream parties had failed to address problems of the people. He said the JI would fully participate in the local government polls.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2020