JI holds sit-in for Karachi’s rights in District East

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday held a protest sit-in in District East under its campaign for rights of Karachi.

Addressing the sit-in, JI Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said it was deplorable that the city that paid 60 per cent of the tax, did not have basic facilities for its people. He reiterated the JI’s demands for an empowered local government in the city and abolition of the quota system that had been depriving the educated youths of Karachi of government jobs.

He said that when other cities of the country like Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi were being developed, Karachi was deprived of its rights. He added that motorways in other parts of the country were in a good condition but in Karachi and Hyderabad they were dilapidated.

The JI city chief claimed that his party had met the Sindh governor and chief minister to discuss the census issue and both of them had agreed that the population of Karachi had been understated in the census results. He asked how the election results of Karachi were approved when everyone knew they were flawed.

He also lamented encroachments across the city and claimed that land mafia had been ruling the city. According to him, former city nazim of the Ji Niamatullah Khan completed the K-3 project that provided 100 million gallons of water to the city, after which the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) city government did not provide a single drop of water to the citizens. He said offices of political parties were built on the premises of colleges and playgrounds were destroyed through China-cutting.

He added that during Niamatullah’s tenure, 32 colleges were established in the city but his successor Mustafa Kamal, who was then affiliated with the MQM, did not set up a single college.

He maintained that the JI had in the past rendered unparalleled services for Karachi and even today it had the potential to make it a developed city again. He said the party might also hold sit-ins outside the Governor House and the Chief Minister House for the rights of Karachi.