Corruption drive: JI chief defends right to protest against corruption

Siraj urges govt to take notice of threats in order to avoid ‘chaos’

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said on Monday that agitating against corruption is a right guaranteed to every citizen of Pakistan in the 1973 Constitution.

“Raising voice against corruption is neither unconstitutional nor unlawful; however, threatening political workers and public, who are agitating against corruption, falls in the category of terrorism -- a tendency that should be checked,” he said while addressing members of the central media committee at Mansoora.

His comments came after the media had shown PML-N workers flexing muscles and brandishing batons on Saturday, threatening the PTI if it dares come close to the Raiwind estate of the Sharif family.



Siraj said the government should take notice of threats in order to avoid ‘chaos and confrontation’. At the same time, he said all political parties, including the PML-N, should ask their workers to demonstrate the spirit of tolerance and political accommodation “because the country could not afford the culture of batons”.

He declared that the JI would chase the plunderers of national wealth till the recovery of every penny of ill-gotten money. The echelons of powers would not be able to protect the gang of corrupt. He also urged opposition parties to purge their ranks of those involved in corruption because they did not deserve any concessions.

He said the JI’s protest against corruption would strengthen public confidence in democracy. “Therefore, instead of trying to muzzle the voice against corruption, the rulers should mend their ways.”

Haq was confident that the JI’s drive against corruption would bear fruit and said the plunderers of public wealth would have to be held accountable for every penny they siphoned off.

He said some elements believed they would escape accountability because of their high political status. “However, every Pharaoh was destined to drawn as per the law of nature.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2016.