Panama case decision will herald corruption-free Pakistan: Siraj

Chief of Jamaat e Islami Pakistan, Senator Sirajul Haq, has said that Pakistan would emerge as a corruption free country in the world following the decision in the Panama leaks case. He was addressing the participants of the JI central workshop at Mansoora.
Sirajul Haq said that Pakistan's image abroad had been tarnished due to corruption, malpractices and nepotism. He said in principle, it was the responsibility of government to check fraud and corruption but unfortunately the country's rulers were themselves steeped in corruption. As such, they could not be expected to control the menace. He said that if a few of the big guns were punished for corruption and examples were set for zero tolerance on corruption, all others would be scared in renouncing the evil.
The JI chief also condemned the ban on the Student Unions since 1984 and said that this had done irreparable harm to the growth of political culture in the country. He said that if the employees in the government and semi government departments/institutions had the right to form unions and associations, there was no reason to deny the same to the students at college and university level. He called for the revival of the student unions to strengthen democracy in the country.
Sirajul Haq said the government officials were no longer public servants as the general public could not get any work done without offering bribe to the government functionaries. He said the JI drive against corruption was not against any individual or any party, it was a fight for the rights of general public.
The JI chief said that only an honest and clean leadership could control the menace. However, he said, this required overhauling the electoral system in which the common man could return to assemblies without spending billions on the election campaign. Sirajul Haq said that the international establishment and the foreign NGOs were at the back of the corrupt mafias. He said that only those guilty of loot and plunder were afraid of accountability.