LAHORE - While paying glowing tributes to founder of the party, Abul Ala Maududi and other leaders on the occasion of 74th Foundation Day at Alhamra, Ameer of Jamaat-i-Islami Sirajul Haq announced that he has drawn up an Awami Agenda which consists of blue print for enforcement of Islamic system and would fundamentally uplift the standard of life in the country but expressed regret that it could not yet be finalised owing to the political deadlock in Islamabad.
He clarified that, “when we talk about Islamic system, we are talking about enforcement of Constitution of Pakistan.”  
As part of the plan, the JI intends to gather what it says, tens of thousands of people around Minar-e-Pakistan somewhere in November, when the Ameer would announce the Awami Agenda face to face with the public.
He said that he has already invited Hameed Gul to join JI and had also invited PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to join the party when he visited Mansoora.
Stating that Jamaate-i-Islami is a party of the people from the grassroots, he said that the politicians he had interacted with have been educated from Aitchison College and come from elite background but he himself is the only leader who has been taught in an Urdu medium school where he had to sit on rugs.
I could not meet Maududi in my lifetime, he said. When he died, I could not attend his funeral because I was on a party assignment in Bajaur and I did not have money to travel, he regretted.
While he appreciated both Imran Khan, Tahirul Qadri and the government for preventing the situation from getting out of control, he called for immediate settlement as he said that the stalemate was diverting attention from the quandary of the Internally Displaced Persons who needed quick help.
He also appreciated the Establishment and the judiciary for staying away from the political crisis.
“I will urge both these quarters to stay impartial, which would add to their stature and dignity. We will give full marks to all three of them if find a way out.” he said.
JI Secretary General Pakistan Liaquat Baloch said that JI calls for the establishment of an Islamic system that does not tolerate personality based politics. He said that where the country was beset with sectarianism, it was JI that endeavoured to eliminate it and called for equality among different sects.
Punjab party leader Dr Fareed Paracha said that the party has a great following across the country.
“Political parties are dominated by certain families which are also propagating sectarianism but JI is a revolutionary party which does not believe in factions or sects,”he said.
“The country’s leading party Pakistan Muslim League (PML) has been carved up in so many factions that it has dried up the entire ABC,” he said comparing it with the JI which he said holds regular elections and strictly believes in democracy.
He also said that during different eras, JIs members have been elected as members of the National Assembly.
“One such leader Naimatullah Khan’s services rendered for Karachiites are acknowledged even by our foes and MQM, which is a testimony of our honest character,” he added.
He also said that if there was any party within the country that was keeping the secularists from changing the Islamic system, it was JI.  
“When Bangladesh was being formed, it were our members who were fighting against the Indians and Mukhti Bahini,” he said.
Hameed Gul was also invited to speak on the occasion said that when he was once asked by former JI Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmed to join the party, he replied that, he did not want to retire from one department and join another.
He said that parties like the JI should abstain from coming to power and instead must always exist as “pressure groups”.