Restoring peace in Afghanistan: Jamaat-i-Islami chief appreciates Turkish conference resolve

Ameer, Jamaat-i-Islami, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said that a foreign policy aiming at the protection of US interests and priorities could not safeguard the country's independence and sovereignty. Addressing the Friday congregation at Mansoora mosque, he said that the presence of US and Nato forces in the region was the root cause of all problems and peace could not be restored as long as these forces remained in the area.
He said that the US announcement to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by 2014 was only to mislead the world. The JI chief appreciated the Turkish conference resolve to restore peace in Afghanistan through an end to terrorism and arms cleansing. However, he said that peace could not return to Afghanistan without the exit of US and Nato troops. He said, US and Nato forces had reduced Afghanistan cities and towns to debris and killed millions of innocent people. In spite of that, it was facing tough resistance and it did not know how to get out of that country and it was pressurising Islamabad for an honourable exist.
The JI chief said that the rulers were offering different explanations for granting Most Favoured Nation status to India to deceive the masses but this was sprinkling salt on the wounds of the Kashmiris who had been struggling for freedom for three decades. He said, the drama of trade with India had been staged to provide India a permit to enter Afghanistan under the US pressure because Washington wanted to establish India's supremacy in the region to cut down China's increasing role and popularity.
Syed Munawar Hasan said that according to a government spokesman, Pakistani citizens have around 5 billion dollars in the Swiss banks. He said all this was ill gotten wealth and must be brought back to stabilise the country's economy.
He underscored the need for complete unity and harmony among patriotic political and religious forces in the country to counter US conspiracies. Meanwhile Jamaat-i-Islami Deputy Secretary General, Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha has condemned the fresh raise in electricity tariff and said this would adversely affect the country's agriculture and industry.
In a statement here on Friday, he said that the government had increased the electricity tariff by 150 percent during the last three years, which was a brutal act. He lamented that most of the government institutions including President House and the Prime Minister House were among the defaulters of Wapda while the government was increasing the burden on the common man to meet the losses.
Terming the rulers as "civilised robbers", Dr Paracha said that they did not lose any opportunity to fleece the poor people. He said that it was only due to the corruption of the leadership that Pakistan had been ranked among the most corrupt countries. He said that anti-government protests across the country were a clear indication that the masses wanted reforms in the country. He warned that if the rulers did not mend their ways, they would be ousted from the power.