KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has given a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan People Party (PPP) government in Sindh to clear its stance on the local government elections to be held on January 15 and withdraw the letter written to the Election Commission of Pakistan for seeking further delay in the polls.
Addressing a press conference, he warned that the JI will be staging a protest sit-in outside the Sindh Chief Minister House, if the government fails to meet the deadline. He said that at one hand the PPP leaders talk about holding local bodies elections, while on the other dialogues are being held to further delay the polls. It seems that the PPP government is mulling to further postpone the polls, he said.
He added that it was quite illogical for political parties to discuss unconstitutional steps, i.e., further postponement of local government elections despite court orders and constitutional provisions against the delay.
The JI leader strongly lambasted Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori for his ‘failure’ to deliver what he had claimed to do. He added that unfortunately conspiracies against Karachi and Karachiites increased when the new governor came to the political arena. He clarified that the JI doesn’t believes in politics of hatred and targeting individuals so the party didn’t oppose Tessori but those who installed him will have to answer for his performance.
He said initially, the governor talked positively about the issues but as of now he didn’t deliver on the issues he promised. Instead the governor took a different line of action and the Governor House has become the hub of conspiracies to seed ethnic divisions and artificial rebirth of some dead political horses, he said.
Engr Naeemur Rehman said as the situation evolved, the mystery around the appointment of Tessori thickened as he was facing criminal charges not only in Pakistan but abroad, as well. The appointment on the behest of the PDM or the MQM was a big question mark on the process of his appointment itself. He asked why Tessori was appointed as the governor and on which grounds.
He strongly condemned the PPP for destroying the megacity. On the occasion, he showed some photos of various spots in the megacity, with garbage everywhere on broken roads and asked where the Rs15 billion patchworks are.
The JI leader criticised the policies of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and said that the party could have gained constitutional rights for Karachi when it was bargaining at the occasion of regime change in Pakistan but the MQM opted to betray its previous friends for the sake of monetary benefits and perks.
He said that Karachiites have realized and recognized the character of all political parties in the arena. He urged citizens to participate in the JI’s event on January 8 to chalk out future course of action for the megacity.
He said that Karachi and Karachiites were suffering because of the corruption, incapability and dual standards of the PPP, the PTI and the MQM. He also highlighted the skyrocketing lawlessness in the megalopolis.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023