JEDDAH — Member of Pakistan's Senate and President of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party Moulana Siraj-ul-Haque has said Muslims all over the world were devastated by the recent suicide bombing near the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. Addressing members of the Pakistan Journalist Forum (PJF) at Muhammadiyah Palace Hotel Suites in Jeddah before his departure to Pakistan after performing Umrah, Haque said the suicide bombing, which hurt the feelings of all believers, was a serious warning not only to Saudi Arabia but also to the entire Muslim world. He said the criminal act was not the work of an individual or group, but it was perpetrated by a global network of terrorists. Haque strongly condemned the suicide attacks in Madinah and other parts of the Kingdom, saying the enemies of Islam do not want any Muslim country to become strong economically, militarily or politically. He further said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has, as a collective voice, failed to address the issues facing the Muslim Ummah. He hoped the Saudi government and security forces would succeed in rooting out terrorism from the country and prayed for the prosperity and stability of Saudi Arabia and the entire Muslim world. Pakistan and other Muslim countries should support and cooperate with the government and the people of Saudi Arabia in their fight against terrorism, he stressed. The Jamaat leader pointed out that Muslims do not have any global political institution that can collectively address the social and political problems facing the Ummah and the OIC has failed to play an effective role in this regard. "Every Muslim longed for an intra-Muslim organization like the United Nations to resolve their internal problems and protect the interests of the Muslim world while promoting international peace and harmony," Haque said. Talking about the political situation in Pakistan, Haque said Pakistan is a country created on an ideological foundation. "Pakistan is an idea. But unfortunately, 69 years after the country's founding this idea has practically disappeared from the nation's conscience. It is because of the wishful thinking of rulers that they can transform the country into a liberal secularist state. We should not forget millions of Muslims who have made huge sacrifices for the creation of an Islamic welfare state," Haque said, adding that ideological corruption is a bigger danger than financial corruption. "Due to this ideological corruption we could not become one nation yet. It is a well-known fact that we cannot unite the country except on the basis of our Islamic religion," he said. At the time of partition of the subcontinent, the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Frontier and Baluchistan voted for Pakistan with the hope of creating an ideological state, Haque added. He said Jamaat-e-Islami had mounted a massive against corruption a year ago. "Following the explosive Panama Leaks, we called for setting up an independent inquiry commission to investigate all corruption cases. We asked the prime minister to stay away from power and hold fresh elections after the cases are settled," Haque said, adding that in the absence of such a mechanism, corrupt politicians will again win elections by using the wealth they have amassed by illegitimate means. Names of hundreds of Pakistani politicians and businessmen with links to offshore companies have surfaced in one of the world's biggest ever data leaks through an online searchable database made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in April and May this year. The database contains ownership information about companies created in offshore jurisdictions including the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and Singapore. It covers nearly 30 years until 2010. Answering a question on voting rights for overseas Pakistanis, Haque said the Jamaat was the pioneer organization in the country that demanded the enfranchisement of Pakistanis living abroad. He also expressed his grief on the miserable living conditions of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. Shahid Naeem, president of PJF, and members Jameel Rathore, Asad Akram and Mussarat Khalil attended the meeting. Muhammed Asghar, deputy secretary-general of Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami, was also present.
