LAHORE - Jamaat e Islami chief Sirajul Haq has said that the Jamaat e Islami wanted to end the VIP culture in the country and bring the oppressed masses at par with the ruling elite.
Addressing the first Friday congregation at Mansoora mosque after assuming top party office, Sirajul Haq termed the tiny ruling elite was the greatest threat to the country’s stability, and warned that if the rulers did not change their attitude, the oppressed masses could rise in revolt.   The JI chief also asked the Prime Minister to withdraw the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) which was a clear violation of human rights and was bringing bad name to the country.  He said that besides armed terrorism, Pakistan was also facing political terrorism and economic terrorism as a tiny elite class was controlling 95 per cent of the country’s rich resources and exploiting the masses.
He said on one hand was the VIP culture while on the other hand, there was the foot path culture as thousands of children were seen collecting food items on roads and living on foot paths.
None of the feudal lords or capitalists have made any sacrifice for the sake of Pakistan, it is the poor class who rendered sacrifices for the country, he said. However, after Pakistan came into being, the feudal and capitalists managed to come to power, he said, adding, that it was only because of the corruption and plunder of the elite that the masses were without basic necessities of life and the country was under the huge debt of the IMF and the World Bank. .
Siraj said that as Finance Minister, he had seen that whenever there was a move for raising the salaries of the class four, the bureaucracy would oppose it with full force, but on the other hand, every suggestion for raising their own perks and privileges was cleared in no time. He said this was because the privileged would not like the poor to stand equal to them. He said if the elite class did not mend its ways, time was not far when the deprived masses would rise in protest and topple the rulers.
Meanwhile, JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch has said that the Armed Forces were a highly important national institution, and the strength of the democratic system added to their competence and capability. In a statement on Friday, he said that the Armed Forces had no right to abrogate the Constitution and take over. Similarly, nobody has the right to criticise or ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces in the name of democracy, he said.
He said that Pakistan today stood at an important juncture and if the government, the Armed Forces, the media as also the political and religious parties were same page and had same views, peace could return to the country, terrorism could be wiped out and the country could be put on the path of economic progress. The JI Secretary General said that the objective of the Govt-Taliban talks was to end terrorism and to counter US and India’s conspiracies against the country.
He said that the talks had been heading in the right direction but as usual, the conspirators were propagating dissent to sabotage the talks.  He said that any differences between the government and the Armed Forces would have serious repercussions and it would be difficult to continue the talks.