Govt took fresh measures of burdening people with more taxes on the direction of IMF: Sirajul Haq

LAHORE, August 19 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has rejected the mini-budget, appealing the masses to launch struggle against the cruel policies of the government. They were ultimately the people who should raise voice for their rights, Sirajul Haq said in a statement issued from Mansoorah on Friday.

He said the government took fresh measures of burdening people with more taxes on the direction of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said the sources of earning for a common man had almost vanished while the wealth of rulers was multiplying on daily basis.

Sirajul Haq said the ill-conceived economic policies, corruption and bad-governance were the root causes to the problems. The governments over decades, he said, never paid attention to address the basis issues rather they made dependence on foreign loans to fix the problems which backfired every time. He said the interest-based economy was the main evil and Pakistan being an Islamic country needed to get rid of it. He said the government must made compliance to the Federal Shariah Court (FSC) decision against interest-based economy and withdraw the appeal against FSC verdict before the Supreme Court.

Sirajul Haq said the JI will continue protest movement against inflated electricity bills and also challenge the government act of including multiple taxes in the cost of electricity. What was justification of charging TV fee and income tax, GST on electricity consumption, he questioned, saying the government was collecting ransom from electricity consumers on the direction of the IMF. “Stop looting people. It is cruel act and sheer injustice. The JI would never accept it,”he asked the rulers.

He said the three parties (PML-N, PPP and PTI) were opponent of impartial accountability. He said the courts were also not asking those who looted country’s money and stashed it in shell companies and foreign banks. He said the country needed Islamic system and only the JI had capability to introduce Quran and Sunnah based system in the country. He appealed to the people to back the JI struggle for it.