KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to write a letter to the Defense Ministry, summoning the army and the FC to Karachi in connection with the upcoming local bodies polls on Oct 23.
The JI leader made the demand at a press conference, he said the PPP government in Sindh can arrange police contingents for security of cricket matches in Karachi, protocol of provincial ministers and even to disperse marches in Islamabad but the same regime comes up with the lack of policemen as an excuse to avoid holding local bodies polls and the party still claims to be trail blazer of democracy.
He said the PPP government was just using the floods as a shield and pretext to avoid holding local government elections. He asked the Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to disclose how many policemen from his personal protocol were sent to the flood affected areas for rescue and relief operations.
He also demanded of the government to disclose the exact number, names and identities of the policemen deployed in the flood affected areas.
The JI Karachi chief highlighted that PPP government avoids local government elections or devolution of powers on grass root level as it suits the elite class representing the feudal mindset of the party in legislative assemblies.
He recalled that the term of the last local government was ended in August 2020 but the PPP regime in Sindh has been avoiding the local bodies’ polls since then. Earlier, he said, the 2015 local government elections were also conducted under the court orders and before 2015, the city government affairs had been run by administrators instead of elected representatives for some six long years.
He said the PPP leaders said that the municipal utility charges were aimed to generate Rs3 billion for the city but don’t utter a single word where did they spend Rs77 billions collected under the head of motor vehicle tax.
He further said so far 44 Karachiites have lost their lives because of Dengue but the so-called empowered bodies could not ensure fumigation across the city. The situation itself was self explainer, what one would expect of the PPP, he said.
He also demanded the government to ensure law and order situation, highlighting that a large number of Karachiites have lost their lives while resisting street criminals in the past few days. He also asked the government to either equip the Rangers with policing powers or there would be not point of holding the paramilitary force in the city.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022