JI leader rejects legislation under FATF pressure, announces protest campaign

PESHAWAR: Rejecting the recent legislation, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial head Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan on Sunday said that the government passed the United Nations Security Council Amended Bill 2020, Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill 2020 and Mutual Legal Assistance Criminal Matter Bill 2020 in the parliament under the FATF pressure.

The legislation was aimed at providing legal cover to handing over Shakeel Afridi to the US, Kulbhushan Jadhav to India and sending blasphemy accused to Europe, US and other foreign countries, he told a news conference here. The JI leader said that Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were at the same page with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for legislation. “We reject the legislation and condemn the act of the three major political parties,” he added. The JI leader said that through the unnecessary legislation the freedom and sovereignty of the country were mortgaged and the economy handed over to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Some 71,000 federal employees have lost jobs and 10 million people across the country have become jobless due to the flawed policies of the government,” he added.

A huge number of overseas Pakistanis have returned to the country, he said and added that the price-hike, joblessness and loadshedding had made life miserable for the people. “The mafias of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), pharma, flour and wheat, sugar, diesel and petrol are ruling the country,” he remarked. The JI leader said that the prices of medicines were raised by 200 percent and no one was there to check the pharma mafia. Despite availability of wheat in enough quantity, the hike in prices of flour was beyond understanding, he added.

Accompanied by provincial general secretary Abdul Wasi and others, the JI leader also strongly condemned the picturisation of a song by two artistes in the historic Wazir Khan Mosque.

He urged the government to probe the matter and award punishment to all those involved in the desecration of the mosque. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said that the JI would organise seminars, conferences and rallies at the district and tehsil level across the province on September 7 to mark the ‘Yaum-e-Tahaffuze-e-Namoos-e-Risalat’.