Bangladesh execution: Nawaz’s stony silence irks Jamaat-e-Islami

Sirajul Haq announces sit-in in Islamabad on Sept 8, mulls joining hands with PTI in Panamagate protests

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s continued silence over the executions of pro-Pakistani leaders in Bangladesh is driving a wedge between the government and the opposition, leaving the Jamaat-e-Islami with no option except to join key opposition parties on the Panamagate scandal and also stage a sit-in in the federal capital.

The development does not augur well for the ruling PML-N. The PTI has already launched protests on the Panamagate and the JI is set to hold a sit-in on September 8, but on a different pretext — against the hanging of its top leaders in Bangladesh.



“We have decided to move Islamabad next week where the government will be forced to take up this issue with the Bangladeshi authorities,” announced JI Amir Dr Sirajul Haq after party leaders offered funeral prayers in absentia for Mir Quasem Ali.



A senior JI leader, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the party was considering the option of supporting the PTI in its anti-government protests.

“We believe the solo flight is not a feasible option. Joining hands with other political forces by forging a broader political strategy would yield better results compared to protesting on one issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Siraj did not dismiss the possibility. Talking to The Express Tribune, he said the JI is in the forefront of the anti-corruption drive.

“We are holding a sit-in in Islamabad against the unjustified executions of our leaders in Bangladesh on September 8 that would be gradually extended to other cities. This does not mean that the issues of national importance, especially corruption, have taken a back seat in our agenda. The Panamagate scandal is all about corruption and we would not let the federal government functionaries go scot-free,” he said.



The JI chief, criticising the prime minister said, “Our leaders paid a heavy price for being patriots. They paid through their lives in Bangladesh for their loyalties towards Pakistan. “The entire Pakistan condemned these executions, but the federal government in general and the PML-N, in particular, are criminally silent. This shows how oblivious the rulers stand on important issues concerning the dignity of Pakistan.”

Responding to a query whether the JI would join the PTI’s protest movement, Siraj said the JI would hold consultations with the PTI and other opposition parties in this regard in the coming days.

“Once we are done with the sit-in, we would be back on the anti-corruption track,” he said.

A senior PML-N leader, requesting not to be named, said the PML-N’s political alliance with the JUI-F was the major reason the PML-N and the PM had been kept from condemning JI leaders’ executions in Bangladesh.

“The PTI and the JUI-F are at daggers drawn in K-P. And the JI is PTI’s frontline ally that shares the coalition government in K-P. The JUI-F is our major ally. In this scenario, an expression of solidarity with the JI on any issue has a lot of political strings attached,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.