Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in its three-day congregation held in Lahore has come up with its Islamic magic wand that will rid the country of all its problems. JI Amir (chief) Sirajul Haq lambasted the corrupt rulers for being tilted towards Washington instead of Hijaz. The choice, he said, should be made: if we want to build a just and developed Pakistan, we need to introduce an interest-free Shariah-compliant economic system in the country. The current interest-based economy is the root cause of all the problems including unemployment, according to him. The corrupt rulers love to lure the public with rhetoric and want to come across as the only deserving and sincere party. JI however, with its conservative Islamist ideology, provides an altogether different route by offering an impeccable mythical solution. So, according to their view, it is the distancing from religion that has brought so much chaos in the country. On the subject of militancy, Sirajul Haq termed the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorists in rhe tribal areas as a ‘drama’ and wanted an immediate end to it. Such statements make one wonder if the Amir is even familiar with the death toll as a result of terrorist activities in the past decade. If not against the Taliban then against whom should our armed forces wage war to provide justice to the 50,000 dead? It is pertinent to mention here that MQM has accused JI of being directly linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban as reports suggest that some militants killed during a drone strike were JI members. JI ex-chief Munawwar Hasan once even called the dead Taliban ‘martyrs’ and refused to extend this description to our soldiers killed in the anti-terrorist war. Not only that, during this congregation he urged his supporters to wage jihad against oppression and by jihad he strictly meant ‘Qital Fisabilillah’, i.e. violent struggle against corruption and oppression. Clearly, the line between their and the terrorists’ agenda have not only blurred but appear to be more than complementing. On the last day of the congregation, with his unending sweeping statements, Sirajul Haq even dubbed the ongoing militant movement as a sign of lack of proper Islamic understanding. Certainly there is a clear fanatical jihadist mindset beneath JI’s apparent democratic stance. According to their worldview, the country can attain a utopian society similar to the past Islamic empire if only their version of true Shariah is implemented in the country. These fantasy seekers need0 to be reminded that the current on ground realities demand progressive thinking and not some backward looking conservative ideology that has already put us on the wrong track. *