LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, has urged the masses to oust the secular and corrupt people from the echelons of power in the next elections, saying as it was time to bring these elements to accountability. Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by the Pakistani community of Hasten, he said that the masses could secure the future of their coming generations through the correct use of the vote. He said that those running the country on the dictation of the world colonialism and causing price hike on the directive of the IMF and the World Bank were not the well wishers of the nation. JI deputy Secretary General Muhammad Asghar was also present. The JI chief said that the ruling elite had built palaces abroad whereas the millions at home did not have shelter. “Around 20 million children did not have basic educational facilities while the government hospitals were without basic facilities.” He said that the fresh loans from the IMF and World Bank would be spent on the payment of interest on the previous loans and there would not be anything for the public. Siraj said the next elections would be a test for the electorate. On one hand there would be the religious alliance, MMA, and on the other hand there would be political parties talking of liberalism secularism and the slaves of the colonial powers. He said the past and the present rulers had been unable to provide any relief to the general public and it would unwise to try them again.
Published in Daily Times, January 1st 2018.
