DI KHAN/LAKKI MARWAT: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has urged National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq yet again not to accept resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNAs.

Addressing a public meeting in Dera Ismail Khan, the JI chief said if the resignations of PTI legislators were accepted, the ongoing political crisis in the country would aggravate at a time when the country faced challenges like mass displacement from North Waziristan and flood ravages.

He said the NA speaker had told him that the matter related to the resignations of PTI MNAs was a technical and legal issue but he (Sirajul Haq) insisted it was a political issue and that efforts were underway to resolve it through by political means, including a political jirga.

Haq said unfortunately, PTI and PAT sit-ins in Islamabad had driven the focus of the provincial and federal governments away from the problems of flood-affected and displaced people.

He said if Afghan political opponents could sort out differences by signing a deal, the PTI, PAT and the government too could reach an amicable solution to their issues by political means, including dialogue.

The JI chief urged the people to launch joint efforts to make the country an Islamic welfare state, where, he said, there was the rule of law, justice and peace and where there was no room for feudal lords, who had played havoc with national economy.He said unfortunately, not a single ruler had focused on resolving the people’s problems and instead, rulers kept themselves busy with plundering the taxpayers’ money.

Haq said feudal lords stashed their wealth in foreign banks and their families got privileges, while the poor people stayed deprived and suppressed.

He said the successive rulers had miserably failed to make the country as envisioned by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Mohammad Iqbal.

JI provincial chief Professor Ibrahim, who was also in attendance, urged the authorities to take care of displaced people, who, he said, were in distress.

He said the government should take more steps to resolve problems of displaced persons and provide their children with education as they had been denied education for five years.

Also in the day, Sirajul Haq addressed a public meeting in Naurang town of Lakki Marwat district.

He urged the federal government and PTI and PAT to avoid confrontation saying the country was at a critical juncture and a minor mistake could prove fatal for the system. The JI chief said the political jirga was struggling to sort out the government-PTI-PAT differences.

He said 80 percent issues between the government and PTI had been settled and the rest would be resolved soon.

“The success of (government-PTI-PAT) dialogue is inevitable to save democracy. Both sides should show seriousness to settle issues through dialogue so that democracy is not derailed,” he said.

Haq announced that his party would re-launch ‘Pakistan Movement’ from Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore on Nov 21 and urged the people and party activists to participate in it in large numbers for enforcement of Islamic system in the country.JI provincial chief Professor Ibrahim, district chief Maulana Malik Meer Shah and senior party leaders were also in attendance.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014