JI chief vows to bring masses out against mini-budget

LAHORE: Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sirajul Haq has categorically rejected the mini-budget, saying his party would bring the masses to the streets against the anti-poor policies of the PDM government.

“The government of the 14 parties wrote history with their bad governance and incompetence in the past few months and made a complete surrender before the IMF,” he said while addressing a press conference at the Gwadar Press Club on Wednesday.

“We will spread the ongoing movement against inflation in every nook and corner of the country. The people are no longer ready to be scapegoats on IMF conditions.”

The government, he said, targeted the poor people at the behest of the global lender. The ruling elite, he said, looted resources of the country and stashed their money in foreign accounts, but they always sought sacrifices from the poor public at times of difficulty.

The JI chief was in Gwadar to show solidarity with the “Gwadar Rights Movement” since Tuesday. He met the locals and visited the movement office. He also met the movement head Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman and other leaders in the local jail. Haq demanded the immediate release of all detained leaders and workers, asking the government to take back fake cases against the residents of the port city and fulfil their demands.

“If Gwadar is a game-changer, then the government must bring changes in the life of the local community.”

He said the residents of the area had long been demanding their fundamental rights, but the government treated them like second-class citizens. He said the Gwadar movement was neither against the CPEC nor launched for separation. The people, he said, wanted to spend a respectful life. The government, he said, must listen to the demands of the people instead of rubbing salt on their wounds.

Haq said if the government did not pay heed to the problems of the people of Gwadar, he would lead them to Islamabad or bring the public from across the country to the port city to make their voices heard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023