PESHAWAR:
Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday warned of a nationwide mobilization after Eid, condemning the country’s current judicial and political system for “failing to deliver justice”.
He said the system required a fundamental overhaul rather than just a change of governments.
He announced that JI would launch a nationwide membership drive from April 25 to May 15 to bring millions into the party, urging workers to actively participate in the campaign.
Addressing a gathering of party workers at the party headquarters in Peshawar, the JI chief said changing political parties would not solve the crisis, arguing that “the real problem is to change the whole system”.
Criticizing the mainstream parties, he said those seeking power and seats could join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), while those committed to systemic change should join his party.
He emphasized the need to strengthen local governments and rejected the concentration of authority in the bureaucracy. He said it was unacceptable to empower administrative officials such as assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners with funds and instead called for an end to monopolies held by a few individuals.
On the education crisis, he said ten million children in Punjab and over five million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain out of school.
Hafiz Naeem argued that the United States “could never be a friend to Muslims” even if mediation efforts were to continue.
Referring to Pakistan’s past alignment with Washington, he said the country did not gain anything from supporting the US in 2001. While acknowledging Pakistan’s role in promoting peace now, he called for a dignified foreign policy rather than closer ties with US President Donald Trump, stating that “they have been humiliated”.
He added that ceasefire efforts were moving in the right direction, noting that Iran had opened the Strait of Hormuz while the US had not lifted its blockade.
“Efforts at reconciliation and a ceasefire are appropriate, but subservience to the United States is unacceptable. American friendship has brought us nothing but terrorism,” he said.
He added that the US had repeatedly undermined Pakistan, including during the 1971 crisis in Pakistan and the post-2001 period, which he said brought terrorism and economic damage.
He said the government collected Rs180 billion during the six-week war and raised billions more through the oil tax, asserting that “the government does not miss any opportunity to loot public pockets”.
He added that Rs1.234 billion had been collected under the levy in the current financial year and condemned the PML-N and PPP for not taking a clear stand against US actions and Trump.
