Prosperity not possible in present corrupt system, says Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said the cancer of corruption has gone deep to society and the ruling elite is united only to protect the loot and plunder.
Addressing a meeting of JI parliamentary board at Mansoora on Wednesday, Sirajul Haq said billions of rupees corruption had shaken society and the dream of development and prosperity could not be realised as long as the present corrupt and exploitative system persisted in the country. He said JI wanted to uproot the status quo to ameliorate the lot of the downtrodden, and the masses should lend their full support to the JI for a change.
Sirajul Haq said the corrupt politicians were the product of the society as the masses had been voting them to power time and again. He said after coming to power, these politicians never provided any relief to the masses. Instead, all their efforts were aimed at amassing wealth and increasing their own bank balances while the general public suffered under the burden of rising prices, higher taxes and utilities bills, he added. He said if people wanted to get rid of these plunderers, they would have to alter their voting trend and vote for candidates known for their integrity and competence.
JI chief said Muslims of the sub-continent had rendered huge sacrifices for this separate Muslim state where they could lead their lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam. He said Quaid-e-Azam wanted to build Pakistan into a truly Islamic welfare state. However, he said, immediately after the establishment of Pakistan, feudal lords, vaderas and capitalists who had been loyal to the British rulers, manoeuvred to come to power and pushed the masses into the abyss of poverty, ignorance and lawlessness. The hold of these elements on the state institutions continued for the last 68 years, he said.
Sirajul Haq said there had been improvement in law and order due to the Rangers operation and the incidents of target killings, extortion and abductions for ransom had reduced and the business community felt much relieved. However, he said, the elements who had been repeatedly demanding military operation were now trying to make the exercise controversial while the people of Karachi wanted the operation to be intensified. He said the arrest of notorious killers like Faisal Mota and Ajmal Pahari from 90 was an ample proof that hardened criminals had found protection in the MQM. He said if Altaf Hussain had not provided the umbrella of the MQM to such criminals, the port city would have been saved from bloodletting.
He said Rangers, security institutions and the police had taken effective steps during the by- election in Karachi due to which all the candidates had, for the first time, been able to visit the erstwhile “No Go” areas for election campaign. However, he said, the PTI and the JI could not compete the MQM because of bogus voters’ lists and fake identity cards that had been prepared in the sector offices of the MQM.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Senator Sirajul Haq condemned the murder of Assistant Prof Waheeduddin of Karachi University, and said target killing of four university teachers in Karachi within a year should be a matter of concern for the rulers. He said the killers of Prof Shakil Auj could not be arrested. He called for an immediate arrest of the killers of Prof Waheeduddin.