KARACHI: Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani on Sunday urged the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chapter Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, to accept their defeat in the local government elections in Karachi instead of hatching any conspiracy to promote politics of hatred and prejudice in the megacity.

Addressing a press conference here, Saeed Ghani said the public meeting held by the Pakistan People’s Party on the previous night to celebrate its victory in the local government elections in Karachi had upset the JI leader.

He said the JI Karachi chief had made up his mind before local government polls that his party would win 200 seats for securing the comfortable majority required for becoming the mayor.

He said the JI Karachi Amir had perhaps had forgotten that every contesting political party had to compete against other parties in the polls for securing a victory.

He said the JI didn’t have ‘undue facilities’ for contesting the local government elections in Karachi this time that was available to it in the previous polls.

Ghani, who is also PPP Karachi chapter President, said that other concerned political parties had also suggested amending the provincial local government law to let an unelected member become the mayor.

He said that for this particular reason, this amendment bill had been passed unanimously in the Sindh Assembly as even the MPA of JI in the house also didn’t oppose it.

The Sindh Labour Minister recalled that the JI Karachi chief during different meetings had also presented the same demand for amending the local government law. He said that it was now strange on the part of the JI Karachi chief to make the announcement to move the court against the latest amendment to the local government law.

He said that the JI Karachi chief had been attempting to become another Altaf Hussain in Karachi. He lamented that the latest statements of the JI Karachi leader were based on hatred and bias.

He expressed sorrow that Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman had forgotten that because of the efforts of the Sindh Chief Minister the population census was being held in the country after six years instead of 10 years. He recalled that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had even threatened to leave the coalition federal government if their reservations about the population census were not removed.

He informed the journalists that Karachi also belonged to him and other PPP leaders including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and late Benazir Bhutto as much as the megacity belonged to anyone else.

He advised the JI Karachi leader to thank God that his party had won 87 seats in the local government polls in Karachi but it didn’t have the majority required for clinching the mayoral post.

To a question, Ghani opined that the incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan completely disregarded the sanctity of his office while extending undue favours to the PTI Chairman, Imran Khan.

He demanded that all the CJPs who had harmed Pakistan’s prestige in the past should be imprisoned.

Ghani lamented that the PTI Chairman after dividing the apex judiciary had launched a new conspiracy to divide the armed forces. He said that it was just sad on the part of the CJP to say that he was pleased to meet an accused who was facing contempt of court charges.

He said that Imran Khan had emerged as the biggest security threat to the country. He said Imran had acted upon the agenda of the Indian ruling party and he had done more harm to Pakistan than the Taliban.