KARACHI ( Eeb News )
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Ameer Sirajul Haq has appealed to the entire Pakistan to come forward on Sunday to show solidarity with the people of Karachi in protest against the black law.
JI Pakistan Ameer Sirajul Haq announced this while addressing the party’s sit-in being held outside the Sindh Assembly building against the black law aimed at taking away powers of the local government setup.
On the 8th day, an extra ordinary numbers of Karachiities turned up at the venue of the sit-in to record protest against the PPP government.
Among other prominent personalities, seasoned religious scholar Mufti Azam Pakistan Muneebur Rehman, Karachi Tajir Ittehdad President Aittque Mir, CPLC foundner Haji Nazim FG, Ulema Council central leader Maulana Zaffar Azad and others, Kamil Multani of the Pakistan Business Forum visited the sit-in and expressed solidarity to the protesters.
Sirajul Haq in his address said that the progress and development of Karachi is progress and development of Pakistan. Pakistan can’t progress while keeping Karachi in darkness , he added.
He said that the JI’s struggle, be it in Karachi, Gawadar, Islamabad or Chitral is not against any political party, it was against injustice, the system of infidelity and oppression.
The worst opponents of the JI including Pervez Musharraf and then MQM’s Ishratul Ibad had acknowledged the services rendered by JI’s Nematullah Khan for Karachi, he said.
Comparing the domestic and international situations, he said the modern world is conquering new skies while in Karachi pipelines for sewerage and water supply are passing through the same channels.
The PPP taken away powers of mayors and handover them to the chief minister, “how much more power do you want to accumulate,” he asked, saying that for a long time people of Sindh have supported the PPP but the people in the province could not progress.
He said that Faislabad, Sialkot and other cities of Punjab have developed and questioned that why Larkana, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jamshoro and other cities could not progress despite continuous rule of the PPP in Sindh. Only corruption thrived in cities of Sindh, he said.
He also talked about the issue of malnutrition in Thari children, he also highlighted the deteriorating condition of public education and health sectors in the province.
The JI supremo also talked in detailed about the issues being faced by Karachiites and vowed to make Karachi the city of lights again.
Refering to the election of Peshawar mayor, he said that it was a right of Karachiites to have their mayor elected through direct vote.
JI Pakistan deputy chief Asadullah Bhutto addressed the sit-in and asked the PPP leadership to show some sanity and repeal the law to avoid further backlash by the masses in Sindh.
JI Sindh Ameer Muhammad Hussain Mehanti in his address said that the peaceful protest has already spread across the province. He said that the PPP will have to repeal the black law. He warned the PPP government in Sindh that the masses will block the entire province by sit-ins if the government doesn’t pay heed to just demands of masses.
Addressing the sit-in, JI Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman paid a rich tribute to resilient party workers and said that their resolve has grabbed the attention of the entire province and not only delegations from across the Sindh are approaching to the sit-in but people from across the land of Sufis have taken to street today against the black law.
Further talking about the controversial law, he said the PPP government is taking over institutions, formerly ran by the local government setup, using the pretext of local governments’ incapability and corruption. He added that in fact the entire public health sector in Sindh has been suffering from incapability and corruption of the ruling regime.
Highlighting the issue, he said that the megalopolis was the major contributor to the national exchequer. It simply means that mass transit system was installed and run in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Peshawar by the revenue generated in Karachi and we are glad over it, he said, adding that the matter of concern was absence of mass transit facilities in Karachi that financially supports the entire country.
Talking about the sit-in, he said that the JI has called people to take to the street for the sake of their own offspring.
He warned the Sindh government against taking shelter behind the accusations of playing ethnic cards. Demanding rights for rural and urban areas of the province doesn’t equate to playing ethnic card, he said. It was the PPP and the MQM that ignited Sindhi-Mohajir riots in Hyderabad and other areas, he said, adding that the JI was only demanding rights for Karachiites and other cities of the province. He said that the JI targets Wadershahi and not Sindhis.
He made it clear that the JI was open for dialogue with the PPP over the issue but at the same time consultations were undergoing to expand scope of the protest campaign against the black law.
Mufti Muneebur Rehman in his address emphasized the need for Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and his cabinet to realize the gravity of the situation and come forward for a meaningful dialogue with the JI leadership.
He said that without a proper mass transit system, Karachi was the only metropolitan in the region. He also stressed the need to legislate for infrastructure in the city to avoid overnight demolishing of legal projects.
The former chairman of the Ruit-e-Hilal Committee further said that it has become a fashion that the government doesn’t pay heed to just demands of the society without the loss of lives and properties. He pressed the PPP government to talk to the peaceful protesters. He also demanded of the federal government for materialization of the Rs1100 billion package for the city.
Haji Nazim FG in his address said that he himself was a dweller of Karachi and feels sorry for the city. He expressed his support for the sit-in and paid a rich tribute to the JI for taking up the matter of the city to a next level instead of traditional drawing room politics over the matter.
Karachi Tajir Ittehad President Attique Mir also visited the sit-in and addressed the protesters. On behalf of traders in the megalopolis, he not only showed unconditional support for the sit-in protest but also expressed support of traders to whatever call the JI leadership will made in connection with the next course of action.
He said the JI is the only party in the political arena which has taken up the issue of Karachi seriously. He also recalled the recent past of the city particularly the past few decades and talked about the impacts of whatever done to the city during the rise of the MQM.