JI will fight off changes to Article 62, 63
The US wanted resumption of bomb blasts in Pakistan.
The people of the tribal areas are not going to accept slavery anymore.
They are neither dead nor is FATA a grave.
They must be given their due rights
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump indicated that a single-minded approach would now extend to US relations with troubled ally Pakistan, which consecutive US administrations have criticised for links with the Taliban and for harbouring leading militants.
“We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations,” he said, warning that vital aid could be cut.
“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting,” he said. “That will have to change and that will change immediately.”
To make sense of the situation, this week DNA is interviewing leading politicians, academicians, etc. This week we talked to one of the leading opposition leaders of Pakistan, senior politician and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer, Senator Siraj ul Haq, for his reaction to Donald Trump’s tough talk and other national and international issues after the disqualification of former PM Nawaz Sharif.
Question: How do you see Donald Trump’s threats to Pakistan? What is Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) stance about it?
Sirajul Haq: US President Trump’s threats to Pakistan proved the failure of the country’s foreign policy during the last four years. He (Trump) had threatened Pakistan to please Indian Prime Minister Modi and announced war against Islamabad.
The PML-N led government should frame its foreign policy not for the sake of US dollars but to safeguard national interests. Special session of the Senate and the National Assembly should be convened to discuss Trump’s statement. We Pakistanis were a free nation and we would not yield to the US pressure.
Despite Pakistan’s support to the US in the war on terror the US had declared Syed Salahuddin and Kashmiris liberation organisation Hizbul Mujahideen as terrorists to please New Delhi.
JI had been pressing upon the ousted prime minister to appoint a full-time foreign minister but he did not pay heed to this demand for four full years.
The armed forces of Pakistan and the masses have offered huge sacrifices to counter terrorism due to which peace was restored in the country. The US wanted resumption of bomb blasts in Pakistan.
Q: What do you make of US threats of attacking alleged terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan? What if there is a strike in the province you represent?
SH: This policy of America is not formulated suddenly; it is their preplanned program and long-term strategy. And you see how they destroyed Iraq, and then Syria, then they destroyed Libya and Afghanistan is also made the graveyard of destruction.
We demand the government to call the joint session of parliament so that we can give a clear message to Trump and his alliance on behalf of 200 million people of Pakistan that we can’t accept their slavery anymore. By adopting their policies in the past more than 65,000 precious lives were lost and we might fall in their trap again. We finally managed to bring peace to our country again and America wants to destroy that peace.
Q: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi visited Saudi Arabia. What role can Saudi Arabia play in sorting out the issue and paving the way for peace?
SH: This is not the issue of Saudi Arabia. We have to fight our own case. I would say for the defence of the country despite difference with the government we would come together and on the same page and we would stay strong and together.
I also want to say to the government that instead of coming on the back foot they must present the point of view clearly and strongly without any fear. We need to live with dignity and honour and we don’t want to live as slaves.
Q: Are there any terrorist organisations and outfits in Pakistan? And if there are terrorist organisations should they be eliminated?
SH: Terrorism is a disease which must be cured. Our religion forbids terrorism. Our constitution and law also doesn’t allow it. But even if someone does a bank robbery in our country we must arrest and punish him and should not ask America to arrest the thief.
Afghanistan and India are continuously interfering in Pakistan. All terrorism incidents that we have witnessed in Pakistan have had either Afghanistan or India’s hand behind them. If there are no terrorists in Pakistan how could such incidents and blasts have taken place? Obviously, there are some people who carry out such activities due to which roads, mosques and institutions have witnessed bloodbath.
Q: During a press conference on Wednesday, you promised a drive against corruption. But now it seems that you have placed your ball in the Supreme Court’s court, that the Court itself take notice under article 184 and carryout the process against corruption on its own?
SH: I think you did not hear my complete speech. Obviously, being a political worker or political party we can’t hold sticks in our hands. We only have two institutions. One is parliament, where we submitted three bills for accountability. But obviously, we don’t have majority there, and PML-N has the majority so no action was taken on those bills and they were shelved. The other place is judiciary if your arguments are not heard in the parliament. So, we moved to court and after Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification our demand is that more than 436 people whose names are mentioned in panama papers must be audited.
We want accountability of bureaucrats, politicians, non-political people, judges or generals; whosoever misused his power and position and looted the poor masses of the country.
Q: As you know that Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the leader of Watan Party, moved a petition in SC that the judges and the generals had always been above accountability and they must also be held accountable. He also said parliament should make these institutions accountable. Do you support this petition?
SH: He may have said this now. But I have been saying that in Senate since day one that article 62 and 63 of the constitution apart from politicians should be implemented on bureaucrats, judges and generals also. In my petition the names of all the people who were in Panama were mentioned. So, I have this demand since day one that all the people who are in panama papers should be audited and made accountable as it includes politicians, non-politicians, judges and bureaucrats also.
That’s why we want that SC not only do the audit of these individuals but also make a proper mechanism for accountability and in that mechanism accountability for all should be carried and I will present myself for accountability ahead of everyone.
Q: The government has unveiled its plan to amend the articles 62 and 63 of the constitution –which were invoked by the apex court when its five-judge bench on 28 July disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panamagate case verdict. What is JI’s stance about Article 62 and 63? Will it support the ruling party?
SH: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) would resist any move to amend the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The appointees to key government positions must have the characteristics defined under the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
The legislature and the executive have to be purged of the corrupt and dishonest elements; the political groups had joined hands to remove Articles 62 and 63 from the Constitution. Almost all nations of the world have enacted such articles in the constitution to make mandatory that their rulers must fulfill the requirements to be Sadiq and Ameen like the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
Q: PML-N government has perpetuated the status quo in Fata by refusing to prioritise legislative, political, financial and administrative changes in the region. According to our sources, the special committee to supervise implementation of the recommendations of the Sartaj Aziz-led Fata reforms committee has not held a single meeting in eight months. What is JI’s stance about the delaying tactics used by PML-N regarding Fata reforms?
SH: We had already set Eidul Azha as the deadline for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and would carry out a protest march headed for Islamabad in September if this demand isn’t accepted.
We have been pressing the federal government and the governor who is its representative in the province to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) and merge Fata with KP.
The people of the tribal areas are not going to accept slavery anymore. They are neither dead nor Fata is a grave. They must be given their due rights by abolishing the black law of FCR and mainstreaming Fata by merging it with KP.
If the people from Fata and KP marched on Islamabad, then nobody would be able to stop them. We supported the federal government when it started working on the Fata reforms. Now the government instead of stepping back from the reforms must immediately announce the merger of the tribal areas with KP.
Why instead of showing the real population of Fata it had reportedly gone down in the census. The real population in Fata in the census should be shown so that the tribal people could be given their rights.
Nobody honoured promises made to the tribal people. Many areas in the Fata region are still without electricity and there is lack of education and health facilities there.
Q: Your critics repeatedly say that JI did nothing for National Action Plan (NAP) and they has sympathy for people who are involved in terrorism?
SH: NAP was not of the government alone, it was a joint plan of the whole nation and all political parties gave the mandate to the government. I also attended those sessions a few times in which the PM and General Raheel Sharif were also present and all the parties supported them on the floor of the house that is why government can’t say they don’t have power or resources they must come forward and maintain peace in the country. We are ready to fully co-operate for peace and progress of the country.
