Sirajul Haq lambasts government over anti people policies

LAHORE:Ameer Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan Sirajul Haq has said that the PTI government was fast heading towards suicide because of its anti-people policies. He was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected president of the National Labour Federation, (NLF) at Mansoora on Saturday.

He administered oath to Shamsud Din Swati as the new NLF chief. The NLF represents around 325 labour unions all over the country.

Sirajul Haq said the idea of mid-term elections had come from the Prime Minister Imran Khan and not from the opposition and it implied that the rulers did not have confidence in themselves.

Referring to the plight of the workers, the JI chief said that the labour laws of the country protected the interests of the capitalists and feudal lords instead of the industrial workers.

Sirajul Haq said the JI was fighting for the rights of 60 million workers. He said all development in the country was due to the hard work of the workers who were toiling hard day and night.

He said like previous governments the present rulers had not given any attention to the problems of the workers.

The JI chief demanded an audit of the Labour Welfare Fund meant for the welfare of the industrial workers. He said “This fund amounting to billions of rupees had been placed in the hands of a few Labour officers who were enjoying it”. He said that more than ten million children were forced to work under odd circumstances and some of them were subjected to sexual abuse.

Sirajul Haq urged the government to frame effective laws to stop violence against the child labour. Besides the households which were engaging child labour should be bound to make special arrangements for the education and training of these children.

He termed the government’s privatization policy as confusing and suggested that a labour representative should also be included in the Privatization commission.

He also demanded an amendment in the labour laws to grant the unregistered workers bodies the right of union making. Replying a question, the JI chief said that the government was dependent on the support of the MQM and some other parties, adding that MQM had been a part of every government and its sole demand was to be given an opportunity to do every lawful and unlawful activity.