LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has announced the launch of “Save Farmers” campaign from today.
JI chief Sirajul Haq will personally start the campaign by holding a farmers’ meeting at Rahim Yar Khan.
“The ruling elite are least interested in solving the problems of the farmers. The farmers and workers constituted a big majority of the country’s population are being ignored by the rulers,” Sirajul Haq said while addressing a news conference at Mansoora on the second day of the JI central Shoora meeting.
The Kissan Raj Tehrik aims at ending the elite rule in the country and ensuring the election of the small peasants to the assemblies, he added.
Sirajul Haq said the JI had decided to give effective representation to the women in the party Shoora. The women members of the Shoora would be elected by the female members of the party, he stated.
The JI amir said it was the duty of the government to carry the Karachi operation to its logical end. However, he said, the accused must be given the right of defense but providing them a chance to flee under any pressure would be tantamount to patronizing the criminals.
Along with the Rangers, the political parties should step forward to gain nation’s confidence for the restoration of peace in Karachi, he stressed. The government should take the political parties into confidence on this score, he added.
The JI chief said that MQM chief Altaf Husain’s outburst against the country and its institutions had done great damage to the country’s image. “Even now, Altaf Husain has simply expressed regrets. If the MQM wanted to play a role in national politics, it must adopt a positive attitude.”
He said the efforts to restore pace in Karachi should not be allowed to be sabotaged. Karachi was not only mini Pakistan but also mini Muslim world and the nation wanted to see its light restored, he added.
Sirajul Haq said the privatization of state institutions in the past had greatly damaged the national economy. If the government did not abandon its programme for privatize more institutions, the workers all over the country would unite to defend their rights, he warned.
He, meanwhile, appreciated the stance of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Kashmir.