ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Siraj ul Haq has termed PTI chief Imran Khan’s call for dissolution of the KP assembly his `personal views’ and not the stand of his party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf.
“There is severe resentment in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) also over the idea of the dissolution the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly,” the Jamaat chief said, adding: “At the same time we too do not agree with his (Imran’s) views because getting elected is a matter of trust of the masses upon us.”
He said it was not appropriate to bulldoze the trust of voters over some political issues.
The Jamaat chief, who is also a senior minister in the KP’s coalition government, was addressing a press conference at the Jamaat’s Islamabad office here Tuesday.
About the JI position on the long march recently announced by the PTI chief Imran Khan, Mr Siraj said he was not in the loop over the PTI chief’s decision.
“Neither we have been asked nor are we part of it,” he said.
Also read: Opposition angered by Imran’s assembly dissolution threat
Mr Siraj condemned the military operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and accused the political leadership of not taking the nation into confidence over the matter.
“The decision to hold talks with militants was made in the multi-party conference and it is our right to know the outcome of the talks; whether the talks have failed, and if so why and what are the alternatives,” he said.
He claimed that the entire nation had been kept in the dark over the matter.
Mr Siraj also criticised the prime minister and accused him of concealing facts and details related to the military operation from the KP government.
“Just because they (the federal government) tried to hide facts from the KP government – this grave humanitarian crisis has emerged in the shape of displaced persons.”
The JI chief said that around 750,000 people had become IDPs and they had been forced to leave their land along with 1.5 million cattle and domestic animals.
Editorial: PTI’s roadmap
“If proper care is not provided to these IDPs than there is a serious threat to health of these people and their animals.”
Mr Siraj demanded of the federal government to pay Rs50,000 in compensation for each family, per month as long as they were IDPs.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2014