Shaykh-ul-Islam’s Interview with ARY News

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that the entire country has fallen victim to suicide bombing as there was not anything like democracy in the country. He said that it was an age of realpolitik where matters of immense import were being decided under political considerations. He said that religious parties were devoid of any character and the country was heading towards becoming a failed state. He predicted that no change would come about in the country as a result of upcoming elections.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed these views while talking to Dr Danish, Anchor of ARY’s weekly programme, which was broadcast live at 8 p.m. on March 25, 2012. This was Shaykh-ul-Islam’s first interview to any Pakistani channel after his historic visit to India.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that democracy was not about buildings but about values and according to the UN definition of democracy, the country was no more nearer democracy and democratic values were on the slippery slope.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that the political parties, which were trumpeting mantra of democracy, were characterized by dictatorships. He said that the people of Pakistan were being befooled in the name of saving the system. He said that if the ruling elite was held accountable to lack of governance and mismanagement, they would simply shrug off their shoulders by saying that since people had elected them for a fixed, only they could hold them accountable. He said that politicians were invoking the system to save their skins and absolve themselves of any responsibility of the mess the country was stuck up in.

Shaykh-ul-Islam said that the people had been so shackled in making their both ends meet that they were rendered incapable of making correct choices. Replying to a question, he said that the way the country was being run there was neither any possibility of socio-economic development nor of political stability. He said that the country was heading towards become a failed state but the ruling elite cared little about this dreary prospect.

To another question, Shaykh-ul-Islam said that there was no difference between culture of political and religious parties. Except for a few parties, religious parties did not have any character and they were solely driven by the craving for power, which was common feature between religious and political parties.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that there was a need of spreading awareness at the public level, which was crucial to bringing about real change in the country. He stated categorically that the upcoming elections would not bring about any change and only exacerbate matters even further. He said that only those politicians would come back to power again who occupied the political landscape of the country. Any expectation of change from them was useless, he concluded.