KARACHI: Pakistan would not be able to make progress without removing the slave mentality from the government offices, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, addressing a press conference here Saturday. He said that the nation will have to get rid of feudal lords and capitalists to enjoy absolute freedom and sovereignty.

He said poor people in the country pay taxes while majority of the elite class dodges taxation.

On the occasion, he announced to launch a new phase of the campaign against the K-Electric (KE) after August 14. He said successive governments in the country have supported the KE despite ‘all its corrupt practices’.

He said that the federal government provides gas to the KE without any contract and this out of turn and undue favour is not only illogical but also suspicious.

He questioned the excessive billing despite the fact that the government provides 1000 megawatt electricity to the company ‘free of cost’.

He alleged that the KE of Arif Naqvi, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and the government have made an evil nexus to plunder the national resources. In this process, Karachiites suffer the most, he added. He reiterated his demand to cancel the license of the KE over a number of reasons, ranging from violations of the agreements with the state to bankruptcy of the parent company.

The JI leader also raised the issue of local bodies’ polls and demanded of the government to reprint ballot papers in different colours to ensure transparency in the electoral process. In this regard, he also demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan to remove what he called a political administrator from Karachi.

Some political parties are trying to avoid local bodies’ elections, he claimed, adding they will not be allowed to do so. He criticized the PPP and the MQM over their coalition in Karachi for a national assembly seat.

He also demanded of the government to declare an emergency and take measures to handle the situation in Karachi after rains.

He announced that the party is holding Independence Day celebrations at over 250 spots in the megacity.

Engr Naeemur Rehman said that the JI would deliver a message of hope for the future of Pakistan through the celebrations.

He said that forefathers of the nation had sacrificed a lot for establishing Islamic Republic of Pakistan but ‘unfortunately a bunch of slaves to some foreign powers have been ruling over the country since long’.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022