BAHAWALPUR: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said on Saturday the Sharifs had been ruling the Punjab for three decades but the people of were still mired in poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.
He was talking to media after visiting the scene where more than 150 people were burnt alive after an oil tanker caught fire.
Siraj said the PM a
nd the Punjab CM had visited Bahawalpur but they had not announced a burn unit even after such a big tragedy which showed
that they had hearts of stone.
The JI chief said i
f the masses were without basic facilities of education and health, the rulers were to be blamed.
He said the people wanted the Supreme Court to take notice o
f the tragedy. The JI emir said
that according to the people, most o
f the people died due to the absence of a burn unit in Bahawalpur a
nd the injured had to be rushed to Multan and Lahore. He said
that poverty and ignorance were the main cause o
f the high death toll in the oil tanker tragedy near Ahmedpur East but timely steps by the administration could have prevented the tragedy. The local people, he said, also claimed
that a Burn Unit project offered by the United Nations for Bahawalpur had been shifted to Lahore. He said
that such accidents occurred in other parts o
f the world also but the governments there were not negligent and promptly provided relief to the affected which reduced the losses.
He said he had come to sympathise with the bereaved families a
nd the people who were suffering from hunger and want. He said the masses were complaining o
f the apathy o
f the rulers who had huge bank accounts and properties abroad and were enjoying all luxuries of life.
Sirajul Haq appealed to the state a
nd the government to give the right of living to the people o
f the Southern Punjab as they had equal rights over the country’s resources. He said
that the JI members would raise their voice in the Senate a
nd the National Assembly on the prob
lems facing the southern Punjab.
He lauded the services o
f the Al-Khidmat Foundation a
nd the JI volunteers and other welfare bodies for providing relief to the affected people. He also appealed to the people to step forward and support this humanitarian cause.
The death toll in the tragedy has risen to 195 while condition of 40 burnt persons is critical.
Published in Daily Times, July 2nd , 2017.
