LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has said that the government is making a futile effort to hide its blunders by placing the responsibility of the Faizabad operation on the court. 

Addressing the central leadership of the JI at Mansoora on Monday, he said if the law minister had resigned on the very first day accepting the demand of the protesters and the public at large, so many killings and the heavy losses of property could have been avoided. He said that violence by the state during the sacred month of Rabiul Awwal was even more deplorable.

Siraj said that the government was dragging in the court every issue but it could not be absolved of the financial losses and deaths in the country. He suggested to the government to confess its failings, seek an apology from the nation and offer compensation for the losses.

The JI chief made it clear that there could not be any compromise on Islam and the democratic system. He said the JI stood by democracy and added that if there was any threat to democracy, it was from the negative attitude of the rulers themselves.  He said the government had made no effort to talk to the people staging sit-in and to make them understand in a positive manner. He said even now the rulers were not ready to give a serious thought to their attitude or to give up their wrong policies.

He said it had been proved once again that use of force was not the solution of any issue. Instead, he said, the Islamic system provided solution to all problems.

He counseled the government to avoid traditional delaying tactics and release all those arrested in connection with the sit-ins and protests. He said that whenever the country’s democratic system was shelved in the past, it was due to the wrong decision of the rulers.

He said that an effective accountability system was essential for a true democracy. He said that instead of placing hurdles in the way of accountability or considering themselves above accountability, the rulers should allow the accountability institutions to work freely. He said that government did not have enough time for self accountability while its image had been tarnished due to its efforts to please the liberal and secular elements.