Political parties using floods as opportunity for politics: Siraj

karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Ameer Sirajul Haq has said that unfortunately political parties are taking this calamity as an opportunity for politics and political point-scoring.

He said on Tuesday the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was in the government and it should not participate in the race of organising political conventions and public meetings.

“Instead, the government should focus on the flood-affected people and mobilise its resources for relief and rehabilitation of the victims,” Haq said while addressing a press conference at the JI Karachi headquarters.

He said asked billionaire political and non-political leaders to donate a considerable amount of their wealth for the flood victims in the country. The government took notice of the situation and started acting after the global community had started offering financial assistance, he said, adding that foreign aid for the 2005 earthquake victims had fallen prey to corruption, and this should not be the case and the ruling regime should refrain from political distribution of foreign aid.

Haq hailed the role of Alkhidmat and other people engaged in relief work. He added that he met such people who had dedicated three out of a total of four rooms in their houses to flood-affected people.

He made it clear that despite all the serious efforts, donations and work, welfare organisations were not a substitute for the government and its resources.

At the moment, he said, the entire nation was supporting the flood-affected people, but unfortunately ruling elite was unable to shift their focus from political gains.

The JI leader demanded of the government to take the civil society on board for the distribution of aid in the flood-hit people to ensure transparency in the process. He recalled that a commission had predicted continuous floods for five years if the passage of floods were not cleared in five years.

He said that over 1,500 people had lost their lives in floods and some 50 million people had been affected.

He said that a large number of people were displaced by floods and were waiting for support under the sky. It would take a lot of time and resources for the rehabilitation of the affected people, he said.