Social reform: JI walks for a ‘corruption-free’ Pakistan

Party’s secretary-general discusses perils of corruption in the country.

KARACHI: Corruption has become the mother of all ills in Pakistan and has even put the sovereignty of the nation in danger, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan's secretary-general Liaquat Baloch on Sunday.

He expressed these views while addressing participants of a 'Corruption Free Pakistan' walk being held by the party's Karachi chapter. The walk was held from Islamia College to the Quaid-e-Azam's Mausoleum and was participated in by a large number of people, who chanted slogans against corruption in the country.

Baloch also said that corruption is the basic cause of poverty, inflation, unemployment, unrest and terrorism in the country. Talking about the Panama leaks, he said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have disassociated himself from the premiership to ensure a transparent inquiry. He suggested that the proposed commission should be provided with high-level powers to investigate the matter.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan should take suo motu notice of the scandal and form a judicial commission consisting of three retired officers to investigate the scandal associated with the family of a sitting prime minister, said Baloch. He added that several high-value projects, including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, are in progress and it is impossible to complete them without eradicating corruption.

Karachi is the country's economic hub and the level of corruption is also larger here, he said, adding that of the estimated Rs8 trillion lost to corruption in Pakistan per year, corruption worth Rs3 trillion was done in Karachi alone. "The people of Pakistan have lost their belief in the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau," he added.  Baloch also said that corruption has become a part of society and all corrupt leaders should be eliminated.

"We have conducted corruption-free Pakistan walks in different cities and will be setting up camps all over the country in the middle of this month," he told The Express Tribune. He requested the people to support JI for a corruption-free Pakistan, as it is the only way for the state to survive.

He added that political corruption is the worst kind of corruption that is degrading Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2016.