LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has impressed upon the government to immediately announce its negotiating team and that the two sides should begin talks without delay.
Giving his suggestions to resolve the persisting political crisis in the country at a press conference at Mansoora Friday, the JI chief said that a committee, comprising the leader of the opposition and representatives of the parliamentary parties, should oversee the negotiations and also facilitate them. Lastly, he said, if the differences between the parties were not resolved, the issue should be put before the masses.
He also urged the government to ensure that Gujranwala-like incident did not occur again. He said long marches and sit-ins were accepted methods for resolving political issues, adding the present long march would give a new strength to the country’s political system and shed the clouds of despair and uncertainty.  Earlier, while addressing the general council of Shabab-e-Milli, the youth wing of the JI, Sirajul Haq said the youth formed the highest portion of the country’s population, but it was being wasted because of the incompetence and wrong priorities of the rulers.
While addressing the Friday congregation at Mansoora mosque, the JI chief said the Islamic system was the destiny of the country. He pointed out that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his many addresses, had stated that the holy Quran would be the constitution of Pakistan. However, the slaves of the British had been ruling the country for the last 68 years and they didn’t not want the Islamic system to govern the corridors of power, police stations, courts and markets, he said. They liked an Islamic system that was confined to the monasteries.
He said the ruling junta was not ready to shed selfish outlook. “The rulers have become corrupt and justice is being denied to the common man. The JI wants a system free from exploitation and tyranny,” he said.
LIAQUAT BALOCH TO VISIT TURKEY: JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch will visit Turkey from August 20 to August 22. During the three-day visit, the JI leader will call on the newly elected president of the Muslim country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and greet him on his victory in the Turkish presidential election.
Baloch will also attend the annual conference of the International Islamic Human Rights Commission and deliver his keynote address on “Sectarianism in Pakistan, causes and efforts to curb it”.
JUP TEAM OFF TO IRAN: An 18-member delegation of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan on Friday left for Iran to participate in International Islamic Conference which is being organised to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.  The delegation, led by JUP Sindh General Secretary Allama Aqeel Anjum Qadri, left for Taftan via Queta. The other members are Qari Muhammad Afzal Bajwa, Mufti Rafiur Rehman, Pir Syed Ali shah, Pir Syed Habibi Ullah, Sahibzada Muhammad Jan, Pir Zia-ud-Din and others.