Secretary General, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Liaquat Baloch has said that JI's today's protest sit-in scheduled to be held at Jinnah Avenue (Parade Ground) against the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST), inflation and corruption will prove a landmark for the future politics.
Speaking at a news conference here on Saturday, the JI leader alleged the PPP-led government for complete failure in delivering according to its mandate saying that the 'historic' protest will be a 'charge sheet' against the government.
He said that people belonging to all walks of life including lawyers, students, families of missing persons, Dr Afia's family and members of the civil society organisations will participate in the sit-in. Baloch said that all the arrangements have been finalised to hold peaceful sit-in in the federal capital adding that it will be held from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm and lead by JI Amir Syed Munawar Hassan.
He was of the view that both the government and the opposition have failed to come up to masses' expectations. Referring to the government's move to impose the reformed GST, Baloch strongly criticised the government and its Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh who, he said was also a blue-eyed boy during Musharraf regime.
He criticised the government for taking dictation from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to further tax the people of Pakistan who are hand to mouth due to price hike, inflation, unemployment and the so-called war against terrorism. About the leaks of the US diplomatic cables, the JI leader said that the WikiLeaks had unveiled the true face of the US adding that the leaks will further add to the already increasing hatred against the US world-wide.
To a question the JI leader said that the sit-in was also meant to condemn the US intervention in the country's affairs, missing persons' issue and target killings in Balochistan and Karachi. A series of protests and public contact campaign will be launched in the second phase, he added. To another question, he strongly opposed any amendment in the Blasphemy Laws and also alleged President Asif Ali Zardari and Governor Punjab Salman Taseer for trampling the laws.