Country held hostage by plunderers: JI

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said a coterie of thieves and plunderers was holding the country as hostage and was talking of "saving the system" only to protect its corruption and ill-gotten wealth. President Zardari has sold away Pakistan's independence and sovereignty in America's hands, he said, while addressing a Ijtema of the JI Lahore at Wahdat Road Park on the historic Pakistan Day.
The JI secretary General, Liaquat Baloch, deputy chief, Sirajul Haq, Punjab chief, Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar, Hafiz Muhammad Idrees and Ameerul Azeem also addressed. Thousands of men, women and children attended the Ijtema. Later, the participant staged a rally at Wahdat Road to condemn the desecration of the Holy Quran by devilish American pastor Terry Jones. Holding copies of the Quran in their hands, the participants vowed to lay down their lives to protect the sanctity of the divine book.
Syed Munawar Hasan said, the people holding fake degrees reached the assemblies through bogus votes by stealing the public mandate and put the country's honour and prestige to auction. The JI chief, said the US had handcuffed Pakistan through the IMF and the World Bank, and added that prosperity could not be achieved through foreign loans which were got only to bolster personal bank deposits.
Syed Munawar Hasan said the Army chief, who had remained asleep over 250 drone attacks, had now tried to deceive the nation through crocodile tears. He said, the Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had freed CIA spy Raymond Davis on the direction of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
He further said that the US, having suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Afghans, was now trying to destabilise this country through Indian and Israeli agents with the intent to make a case for placing our nuclear assets under international control.
The JI chief said the present awakening in the Muslim world was an expression of hatred for the US policies, and the US slaves were facing the public wrath every where. He said, the Pakistani nation would have to stand by the patriotic forces to defend its independence and sovereignty. He said, the JI had a long history of struggle and sacrifices for the country and the nation since independence and was the only party that could steer the country out of the present mess as its leadership and cadres were free from corruption and loot.
The JI, he said, had begun a mass contact drive to seek public support and he was confident that no power on earth could now stop a grand Islamic revolution in the country. He said the army and the rulers had deprived the people of basic needs, lawlessness, price spiral and unemployment had made the people's life miserable. Hundreds of factories were closed due to load shedding of gas and electricity. People were committing suicide due to poverty whereas the rulers were competing each other to win Washington's pleasure.
Addressing the Ijtema, the JI Secretary General, Liaquat Baloch, said that it was the military establishment that was ruling the country as those claiming two third majority had been driven out of the parliament. JI deputy chief, Sirajul Haq, said said that the rulers who were enjoying luxurious living were trying to snatch the last morsel of food with the masses.
President Zardari had Rs 114 billion in foreign banks while Nawaz Sharif's foreign deposits ran to Rs 149 billion, he pointed out. The JI Punjab chief, Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar, said that since 9/11, the world at large was a prey to the US terrorism. He said the nation would have to support the JI with full resolve and determination for a real change.