RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Chief of Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Sirajul Haq, said that restoration of peace in the country is the biggest national issue and suggested that all the parties should stage a National Peace March to stress the point. He was addressing the families of the Christians working at Mansoora at a luncheon hosted by the JI in their honour on Saturday.

Sirajul Haq said that the solution of all the problems facing the country today including terrorism, lay in the enforcement of the Islamic system, and added that an Islamic government was responsible for the protection of the life, property and honour of all its citizens including the minorities.

The JI chief said that the political parties had accepted the setting up of military courts only under present circumstances which was however not an ideal situation. He said all the political and religious parties had given a mandate to the government for taking extreme steps for uprooting terrorism and restoration peace. Now it was for the government to take necessary measures to achieve this end.

Sirajul Haq said that unfortunately, the laws already existing in the country were not enforced. However, he said, it was the duty of the government to remove the flaws in the judicial system, fill the vacant posts in the judiciary, and to provide sufficient funds to the judiciary to facilitate its functioning. The Peshawar tragedy is a big tragedy not only for Pakistan but also for the Muslim world, Sirajul Haq said the civil and military leadership had joined hands to wipe out terrorism.

Referring to the rights of the minorities in the country, the JI chief pointed out that the Quaid e Azam had stated in clear terms that the Muslims and the non-Muslims would enjoy equal rights in Pakistan. But unfortunately, he said, the rulers had betrayed the country's ideology and the constitution with the result that not only the eastern wing of Pakistan was lost but innumerable problems cropped up for the nation.