LAHORE: Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq has demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif.

“The incident is shocking and brutal. The nation has every right to know the reality,” he said in a statement issued on Monday, adding the government should form judicial commission to probe into the tragedy.

Expressing condolences with the family, he and other leaders of the JI including Deputy Chief Liaqat Baloch, Secretary General Ameerul Azim and Secretary Information Qaisar Sharif prayed for the deceased journalist. The JI leadership expressed solidarity with the journalist community, showing commitment to their cause for freedom of speech and independent media.

JI Chief said no nation or country could achieve progress without establishing rule of law and justice. The powerful, he said, always escaped accountability and held least accountable before the law. But, the neck of the poor caught even committing minor mistake.

Holding responsible the present and past governments to the problems of the country, he appealed to the nation to take a stand for their rights and support the JI to transform Pakistan into welfare Islamic state. The people, he said, felt unprotected and helpless because of the government policies. The PDM and the PTI, he said, failed to resolve the problems and stood exposed before the masses. The ill-conceived policies of the governments destroyed the economy, gifting the masses with inflation and educated youth with joblessness. Millions of children were out of schools due to poverty, he said, adding the health facilities for the common Pakistani were almost vanished. Feudal lords, waderas and corrupt imperialists, he said, looted the country’s resources and kept the masses deprived. Bad-governance and corruption were the root causes of the problems, he said.

The issues will resolve when the common people elected the leadership among themselves, he said, asking them to join the JI for the cause. He said the country needed capable and honest leadership.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022