Jamaat-e-Islami to mount drive against corruption

Party’s chief counts corruption as a core issue, apart from terrorism, poverty and unemployment

ISLAMABAD:

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) announced on Sunday that it will carry out an anti-corruption march across the country in March 2016 in a bid to eradicate the scourge. The party also said it is keen to expose the elements involved in graft.

The campaign will get under way in the first week of March with rallies planned across the country. An Islamabad D-chowk sit-in will bring the campaign to a close, its leader Sirajul Haq told The Express Tribune on Sunday.





The JI chief said the party believes that an anti-corruption march was essential to expose the corrupt elements. “The corrupt elements that have looted and destroyed the country should be exposed,” he added.

Haq said that country is facing several problems like terrorism, poverty and unemployment, but corruption is also a core issue. Corruption has destroyed the country so it must be eliminated through a massive campaign.

The JI ameer claimed that corruption has increased since Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came into power and there was a dire need to expose those tainted by the scourge whether they are politicians, lawmakers or bureaucrats. “Time has come to show street power against the corruption,” he added.

When asked why JI did not start an anti-corruption campaign when PML-N came to power, he said that two years was enough for the government to make their directions clear, but unfortunately the government has shown little interest in addressing crunch questions.



Haq did not elaborate where the campaign will start from and how long it will continue. However, he said that a committee has been constituted to prepare the plans. The committee comprising, JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, Naib Ameer Mian Muhammad Aslam and Central Information Secretary Ameerul Azeem will finalise the dates and cities for the different marches.

The basic objective is to mobilise the public to eliminate corruption, Haq said. “The government is selling state-run institutions. And unemployment is set to increase with the privatisation of every institution,” Haq told a youth convention in Lahore.

Implementation of NAP

Haq lashed out the government for failing to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) despite the passage of over one year. The plan devised in consultation with all political forces was aimed at eliminating terrorism.

Attacks on Charsadda could have been avoided if the NAP was implemented timely, Haq said. He said that after the attacks on Charsadda, there is no reason that government delays its implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th,  2016.