JI leaders have no history of embezzlement, says Hafiz Naeem

For carrying out electoral campaign in the local government elections of the cantonment areas, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has inaugurated the party’s second election office in the Faisal Cantonment Board.

A large number of residents of the area, social activists, JI workers and representatives of the business community attended the inaugural ceremony on Tuesday. Syed Ibn al-Hassan Hashmi, the JI’s candidate for the councillor’s seat in a ward of the Faisal Cantt, welcomed the JI city chief and assured him of his and his team’s all-out efforts to win the seat.

Addressing the ceremony, Rehman said that serving people had become a symbol and identity mark of the JI. He added that the JI had been serving residents of the area for many years. Talking about the election, he said the JI had not been provided a level-playing field. He encouraged the party workers to maximise their efforts to reach out to the masses in order to handle the situation. He also asked them to remain vigilant against the possibility of rigging.

The JI leader said that although cantonments were dealt with separately, the boards could not be seen in isolation from the rest of the city. “Unfortunately, Karachi is an unlucky city,” he remarked. “Almost major cities of the country, including Islamabad, Lahore, and Multan, have developed,” he said, adding that contrary to that, the condition of Karachi had deteriorated.

He said that all the political parties in Karachi other than the JI had no ability to deliver because of corruption in their ranks. A strong impression prevailed among the political circles that no one could take a stand in the cantonment areas, Rehman maintained, adding that the impression was true albeit not for those who belonged to the JI as its activists and leaders were people of great character who did not have a history of embezzling funds.

The JI leader also shed light in detail on the difference between the approach of the JI and other political parties regarding the politics in Karachi. He spoke about the tenures of JI's Abdul Sattar Afghani and Niamatullah Khan, and compared to other tenures. Remind the people of the JI’s electoral symbol, scale, the JI city chief said, “Scale is our brand and all of you are our brand ambassadors.”