People’s resistance will force PPP to withdraw LG bill, says Siraj

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Sunday said the people’s resistance will force the Pakistan People’ Party to withdraw the controversial local government bill.

The PPP leadership in Sindh will have to take notice of the sit-in representing aspirations of 30 million people of Karachi or face the music, said Haq, while addressing a workers’ convention held at the sit-in venue outside the Sindh Assembly that entered its 24th day on Sunday.

He paid rich tributes to the participants of the sit-in for representing the aspirations of 30 million people of Karachi and showing an unshakeable resolve even in the face of very hard weather conditions.

He said the JI will not leave the people of Karachi alone and would take the case of Karachi to all parts of the country. The JI chief said Karachi has not only been facing lawlessness and bloodshed but also fleecing inflation as well as injustice. “Only way forward to get rid of all these issues is an Islamic system of governance,” he said. The system of injustice was imposed on the people of Pakistan by the same ruling elite that is an extension of the East India Company, he said, asked “What is the difference between the PTI and the PPP and PML-N and or any other political party”.

A true Muslim would never support tyranny and oppression, he said and asked the people of Karachi not to support the people who are responsible for injustice to Karachi and Karachiites. He said the ruling elite always supported the US and the IMF but betrayed the nation. He added that the people of a province have been holding a sit-in protest for 24 days right outside the provincial legislation assembly but no one takes action.

Siraj Haq lambasted Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and said the people, who always chant the mantra of democracy, are breaking records of corruption but not ready to pay heed to genuine issues of their own people.

“I want to tell the PPP leadership to pay heed to the aspirations of the people.” He said the PTI and the PPP both have entered into an understanding of only offering lip service against one another but would not challenge the fascism of each other in the Centre and the Sindh province, respectively.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan says peace will be available only in graves but I want to tell him that he would not be able to have peace even in grave due to what he has done,” he said.

JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced a two-day ultimatum for the Sindh government to withdraw the black law. Otherwise, he added, either all the five main entrances of the city or the major arteries in Karachi would be blocked. Only ambulances would be allowed to pass through the blocked roads, he said.

Rehman said that the PPP government in Sindh was attempting to cover up its incompetence and corruption behind the ineffectiveness and corruption of the federal government.

The JI Karachi chief said the PPP has been ruling over the province for over 14 years and has gradually taken local bodies into its clutches but the situation of Karachi and other parts of the province are evident in its competency and intentions. He also condemned the Tando Allahyar incident and said that the JI would not allow the politics of hatred, divide and language.

On the occasion, the sit-in turn convention passed a resolution, demanding the provincial government to devolve certain powers to elected representatives of the local government. The resolution also demanded of the government to hold a census to determine the actual population of Karachi and other cities.