Siraj points gun at PML-N, PPP

JI chief likens their current verbal duel to scripted wrestling

RAWALPINDI:

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has urged people to bury the politics of traditional parties—the PML-N and the PPP—forever in the upcoming general elections, vowing to struggle for the freedom of Kashmiris, Palestinians, and Dr Aafia Siddiqui if his party is elected to power.

"On February 8th, vote for Tarazu—the JI’s election symbol—if you want education and employment for your children, a corruption-free Pakistan, and an interest-free financial system," Haq said during an election rally on Sunday at Rawalpindi’s historic Liaqat Bagh.

During the speech, the JI chief criticized both the PML-N and the PPP for their alleged failure to deliver significant progress to the people despite ruling the country multiple times.

According to Haq, the PML-N leaders—Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif—always keep praising each other whenever it comes to presenting their past performance, while PPP Chairman Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari tells people that he should now be elected as the prime minister as both his mother and grandfather have already served as the country’s PMs.

Referring to the ongoing verbal duel between the former ruling parties ahead of the general elections, the JI chief claimed that this apparent confrontation was staged for public consumption, likening it to scripted wrestling.

He said, "February 8 will bring an end to corruption; it will bring an end to ignorance, poverty, and lawlessness."

Haq noted that after Makkah and Medina, Pakistan is the most sacred state in the world. "Pakistan possesses all resources, including gold, silver, and fertile land. Pakistan is abundant with talented youth, so why are we in such a miserable state?" he asked.

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He noted that both the PPP and the PML-N had ruled the country four times each but failed to deliver.
"If they could not deliver in the last 35 years, then how could they deliver anything now? The president, prime minister, and establishment were with them. What have they done? They have given the country inflation, unemployment, and lawlessness.

"It is because of the PPP and the PML-N that the country is burdened with trillions of rupees in debt. The people do not have access to clean water, they do not receive justice, and there is no education system for the poor. And then they say, 'One more chance'," he added.

He said the economic policy of these parties is to borrow loans and spend them. Voting for the PPP and PML-N, he said, means voting for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Every year, Rs5,000 billion is lost due to corruption. However, if they are elected to power this time, corruption will increase to Rs10,000 billion per year," he claimed.

The JI chief reminded the people that it was during the rule of Nawaz Sharif that Pakistan handed over Aimal Kansi to America and executed Mumtaz Hussain Qadri.

Kansi was a Pakistani national who was convicted of the 1993 shootings at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and subsequently executed in the US in November 2002.

Qadri was a police constable who assassinated Punjab former governor Salman Taseer in January 2011 after the latter publicly supported a blasphemy accused Aasia Masih.