JI blasts govt for failure to bring back overseas Pakistanis

MINGORA: Condemning the government’s attitude towards overseas Pakistanis, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) provincial head Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan on Thursday asked the government to take prompt measures to bring back stranded from various countries.

“Over five million Pakistanis have stranded in various Gulf countries due to corona pandemic. Many have died due to the apathy of the government and the government must move to address this humanitarian issue,” the JI leader told the protesters at Nishat Chowk. He claimed that the overseas Pakistanis were contributing over 32 billion dollars as foreign exchange to the national kitty, however, the rulers failed to help them out in the prevailing coronavirus pandemic.

He said the people were dying in Saudi Arabia and other countries due to hunger and disease but the rulers were least bothered to come to their rescue. “The ticket for 700 riyal is now available for 3000 riyal and jobless overseas Pakistanis cannot afford it,” he said, and asked the government to remove the ambassador in Saudi Arabia and other envoys for their lack of interest in addressing the problems of Pakistanis.

The JI leader said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had failed to come up to the expectations of the people. “This government has no vision. The government didn’t take the opposition into confidence on the serious issue of coronavirus and the people are dying to the apathy of the rulers,” he went on to add.

The JI leader said the situation in hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was alarming. “The doctors and health staff have not been provided necessary kits. The government should have announced an emergency plan to equip health sector to cope with the pandemic,” he said. The senator said Prime Minister Imran Khan had also failed to honour his commitment about eradicating corruption.

Our correspondent adds from Bajaur: JI Bajaur chapter also staged a protest rally against the govt for petroleum products crisis and price-hike in Inayat Killay bazaar. Speaking to the protestors, JI local leaders, including Qari Abdul Majid, Sardar Khan, Sufi Hamid and others said that there were huge petroleum products in the country but the oil companies had created artificial crisis at the behest of the government. They said that government had failed on all fronts due its flawed policies and incompetence of the rulers to serve the masses. The speakers blasted the govt for its inefficiency to tackle the Covid-19 situation in a proper manner to stem the spread of viral disease in country.