JI chief rejects proposed constitutional amendment

HYDERABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Friday rejected the ongoing efforts to have a constitutional amendment passed by Parliament.

He was addressing a public meeting at Koh-e-Noor Chowk in Hyderabad.

He said he was sure that the JI would emerge as the largest party in Hyderabad.

He remarked that due to the incompetence of the rulers, politics based on linguistic differences thrived in Hyderabad, which harmed the people of the city.

He condemned what he said the efforts being made to amend the Constitution in order to control the judiciary and make it subservient to the executive.

He decried installing surveillance cameras in judges' rooms, and alleged that the government was trying to pass a constitutional amendment to grant extension to the incumbent chief justice.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah appointed as the next chief justice, the JI chief demanded.

He reminded the judges that they had taken oath in the name of God, saying that judges must leave their position if they were afraid of the establishment.

Rehman said feudal lords had filled the Sindh Assembly and asked if women could be safe in such a government.

He asked whether the peasants in Sindh had any rights and how many girls were being allowed to get education.

The JI emir lamented a large number of ghost schools in Sindh and lack of facilities for teachers and students at other government schools.

The rich were able to get government jobs in Sindh after paying bribes, he said, adding that eight million children in the province were out of school.

He asked Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari what kind of enlightenment was that he talked about when children could not afford to have slippers in their feet.

He said Bilawal’s party had been ruling Sindh for 16 years where it destroyed institutions, there was loadshedding and roads were broken. He accused the Sindh’s rulers of embezzling funds for the province.