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 and 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 if 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 of the tragedy. The JI emir said that according to the people, most of the people died due to the absence of a burn unit in Bahawalpur and the injured had to be rushed to Multan and Lahore. He said that poverty and ignorance were the main cause of 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 of 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 and the people who were suffering from hunger and want. He said the masses were complaining of the apathy of the rulers who had huge bank accounts and properties abroad and were enjoying all luxuries of life. Sirajul Haq appealed to the state and the government to give the right of living to the people of 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 and the National Assembly on the problems facing the southern Punjab. He lauded the services of the Al-Khidmat Foundation and 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.