Rulers of Madina-like state barred poor from going to Madina: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Senator Sirajul Haq said that the PTI government coming to power on promises of Madina state was not ready to provide a small Haj subsidy to poor pilgrims.

Actually, Haj pilgrims were being overcharged, and if compared to other Islamic countries they were being fleeced in Pakistan, he said while talking to media after inaugurating Kashmir exhibition at Gaddafi Stadium Friday.

Siraj asked that if India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were not burdening their pilgrims with additional expenses, why Pakistani rulers have been doing so for many years. He said Afghanistan, a war-torn country, was facilitating its pilgrims but Pakistan was cutting facilities.

Earlier, while inaugurating the Kashmir exhibition, Sirajul Haq said none of the past governments had made serious efforts for resolving the Kashmir issue. He said the Indian troops had martyred around 95,000 Kashmiris since 1990 but the Pakistani rulers were begging for friendship and trade with India. He said he had talked to the ambassador from European and other western countries in Islamabad and they had pointed out that the Pakistan government was not keen in resolving the Kashmir issue. He said the entire opposition was ready to support the government on the Kashmir issue.

He urged the government to convene an OIC meeting in Muzaffarabad and convince all Muslim states for a joint line of action for the grant of the right of self-determination for the Kashmiris. He said that New Delhi should be given a categorical message that nothing except the Kashmir issue could be discussed.