Accountability of govt essential to save democracy: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said accountability of democratic government is essential to save the democratic system.Speaking at an Iftar party on Saturday, the JI chief said the masses were disappointed by the present judicial system and were looking towards the military courts for justice.

He said every chief justice of the country, after his retirement, had admitted the weaknesses of the judicial system in dispensing justice. He said the present chief justice of Pakistan was strongly criticising the judicial system during his service.  However, he said, the question was who would correct this faulty system? 

Siraj said the rulers would never be ready for their accountability.He said the poor had to spend all his belongings and were pushed from pillar to post for justice. On the other hand, the affluent purchase justice through their wealth, he said.

Sirajul Haq said so far the government had failed to set up the judicial commission, and such delaying tactics won’t save it. He said  the masses would not allow anyone to run away. He said the present rulers would have to make some sacrifice to save themselves from the public wrath.

He said if someone believed that he would be able to save his ill gotten wealth and skin, he was wrong.

Meanwhile, talking to senior Hurriat leader and Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM)  Chairman Zafar Akbar Butt, who called on him at Mansoora on Saturday, Senator Sirajul Haq said Pakistani nation stood shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiris till complete liberation of Kashmir from Indian occupation. JKSM Vice-Chairman Altaf Ahmed Butt was also present. Sirajul Haq said the unity of Hurriat groups was the need of the hour and assured that JI would play its full role in this respect. He said Kashmiris had been offering unparalleled sacrifices for freedom for the last 70 years. He said the people of Pakistan had never disassociated themselves from the Kashmiris' liberation movement. He said the role of the Hurriat Conference leaders in the liberation struggle was highly valuable. However, he said, the differences among the Hurriat leaders were harmful for the movement. He said in the past, the JI leadership had made several appeals to the Hurriat leaders to sink their differences and stand united.

Sirajul Haq said it was the duty of the Azad Kashmir government to extend full support to the liberation struggle. He said that Azad Kashmir was expected to serve as base camp of the liberation movement but all past governments in Azad Kashmir had failed in this respect. Zafar Akbar Butt commended the role of JI in the Kashmir liberation movement and said Kashmiris acknowledged that. He appealed to the JI leadership to apprise the Pakistani nation of the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir through its network in the country. He said that the situation in Kashmir had worsened recently and India was trying to end the Muslim majority in Kashmir. 

Sirajul Haq said the JKSM leader's visit greatly helped the JI in knowing the actual situation in the valley. The JI chief also gave him a message for veteran Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gilani.