LAHORE / GUJRAT   -    Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq has rejected the government agenda to impose new taxes amounting to Rs170 billion on the masses, saying the poor peo­ple are no longer ready to render sacrifices for the pleasure and protocols of the ruling elite.

“We will not accept further taxes or mini-budget,” he said while addressing a public gath­ering in Gujrat on Saturday on the second day of the three-day Awami March against in­flation and the government’s anti-poor policies.

He said the PDM, the PPP and the PTI troika failed to bring re­lief to the masses despite their tall claims and promises. The ruling parties, he said, were re­sponsible for the destruction of the economy and the miseries of the common man. He said the PDM and the PPP had taken out long marches against inflation before coming to power in April last year. He added that they made as hell the lives of the poor and middle class. 

The second phase of the three-day march was concluded at Gujrat, where large number of people, including women, par­ticipated in the rally. The march would conclude today (Sunday) with a mass meeting at Rawal­pindi’s Liaqat Bagh. 

The JI chief said the poor peo­ple would no longer be ready to render sacrifices for the ruling elite’s pleasures and protocols. The PPP and the PML-N, he said, have been in power for decades and the PTI has also been the ruling club since 2013, as the party ruled the KPK for almost 10 years. “I want to ask the troika what they had done for the betterment of masses. Tell your performance to the people instead of making more claims,” he maintained. 

The rulers, he said, should sacrifice their looted money and properties instead of sucking the poor’s blood. Haq rejected the IMF conditions, ridiculing the ruling PDM and the PPP that if the decisions had to be made by the global lender, what was the logic of the political parties to pose themselves as the rulers of the country.

He said the incumbent gov­ernment’s policies were the continuation of the PTI. The trio, he said, was the agent of the status quo as their econom­ic policies revolved around the debt-servicing. 

He said the JI would fight for the rights of the people and was ready to challenge the politics of the tested parties. 

Haq also asked the PPP to ac­cept the JI mandate in Karachi. He said the JI will give the new mayor to Karachi, warning the ruling parties not to create hur­dles in its way.

He also called for general elections all over the coun­try, saying the political parties must initiate dialogue for trans­parent, free and fair polls.