Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Friday linked the survival of democracy with free, fair and transparent re-elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, which Pakistan army should supervise. Spearheading the sit-in protest near the Mazar-e-Quaid at Numaish Chowrangi on MA Jinnah Road, General-Secretary of JI, Liaquat Baloch said the re-election was the only way to restore peace and democracy in both cities.
Activists of JI, JUI-F, JUP and other right-wing political parties turned up in a large number to attend the protest against 'rigging' in recent elections. Women and children also participated in the agitation. Protestors held banners and placards against election results and chanted slogans in support of their demands.
"Voters of Karachi and Hyderabad have been deprived of their legal right to choose their representatives in polls," said Liaquat Baloch. He held national institutions responsible for helping in "rigging" the polls in line with the agenda of global "establishment", adding that these institutions should have, instead, protected the country's interests.
Stressing the need to forge political unity, he said that leaders of all political and religious parties should unite on a single-point agenda to hold transparent and fair re-election under army supervision. He warned the military establishment and law enforcers of severe repercussions to national integrality, solidarity and peace if they did not withdraw their support from MQM.
"The establishment must stop supporting targeted killers, extortionists and terrorists," he said. He said that national institutions had helped MQM secure a "fake" mandate in Karachi and Hyderabad in recent polls. According to him, MQM had been blackmailing successive governments for the past 25 years.
He also blamed President Zardari for the poor law and order situation in the city, and said that PPP had failed to retain its political mandate in recent polls because of its support to MQM. Chief of JI Sindh Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, deputy chief of JI Sindh Asadullah Bhutto, chief of JI Karachi Muhammad Hussain Mahenti, Nasrullah Shajih, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, Naseem Siddiqui, Umer Sadiq of JUI-F, Abdul Aleem Ghauri and Mustaqeem Noorani of JUP were among prominent speakers.
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