Sirajul Haq asks billionaire political & non-political leaders to donate a considerable amount of their wealth for flood affected people
KARACHI, Sep 06 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has asked billionaire political and non-political leaders to donate a considerable amount of their wealth for flood affected people in the country.
Sirajul Haq expressed these views while addressing a press conference held at the central relief camp of the party at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI Karachi headquarters, and during his visit to a residential facility for the affected people, on Tuesday.
Speaking at the presser, Sirajul Haq said that unfortunately the government took notice of the situation and started acting after the global community started offering financial assistance.
Talking about the viral video of a tragedy, he said that he himself had asked the government and authorities to provide helicopter for the five youngsters but all went in vein and all the five lost their lives in flood after struggle for several hours. Sirajul Haq recalled that the financial assistance came in for the victims of 2005 earthquake fell prey to corruption. This should not be the case and the ruling regime refrain itself from political distribution of the foreign aid.
Sirjaul Haq further said unfortunately political parties in the country are taking this calamity as an opportunity for politics and political point scoring. He reminded the PML-N that it was in the government and should not participate in the race of political conventions. Instead the government should focus on the flood affected people and mobilizing it’s resources for relief and rehabilitation of the victims, he added.
On the occasion, he hailed the role of Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan and other people engaged in relief work. He added that he met with such people who had dedicated three out of total four rooms in their house for flood affected people. He made it clear that despite all the serious efforts, donations and work, welfare organizations are not a substitute for the government and its resources.
At the moment, he said, the entire nation is contributing in support of the flood affected people but unfortunately ruling elite was unable to shift their focus from political gains. He demanded of the government to take civil society on board for distribution of aid for the flood affected people to ensure transparency in the process.
He recalled that a commission has predicted for continuous floods for five years if the passage of floods are not cleared in five years.
He said that over 1500 people have lost their lives in floods and some 50 million people have been affected by disastrous floods. He added that a large number of people were displaced by floods and are waiting for support under the sky. It will take a lot of time and resources for rehabilitation of the affected people. On the occasion, he also made an appeal to overseas Pakistanis to support their brothers in need.
JI Sindh Emir Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, JI Karachi Chief Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and other leaders accompanied Sirajul Haq.