Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday alleged that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had decided to contest the local government elections in the remaining 11 union councils in order to facilitate the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He made these comments while speaking at a family Iftar party in union council number four in New Karachi.
Rehman stated that the PPP was afraid of facing the JI in the remaining 11 union councils in Karachi due to the JI's popularity and imminent success in the local government elections. He also claimed that the JI had already secured a majority in the union councils pertaining to the elections on councillors’ seats.
He alleged that the PPP had tactically pushed forward the MQM in the elections to affect the JI votes and pave the way for its victory in the 11 union councils. He vowed that the JI would also clean sweep the 11 UCs as the people of Karachi had realised who their friends and foes were.
Rehman criticised the PPP for using state organs and machinery to influence the electoral process, alleging that biased returning officers, district returning officers, and other officials had been appointed to manipulate the results of the elections.
He further stated that the JI had become the voice of Karachiites, with 35 million residents of Karachi wanting the JI's mayor to run the office.
Rehman shed light on the JI's contributions to the betterment and progress of the city and vowed to continue the saga on the path of glory and light.
A day earlier on Friday, Rehman said the people of Karachi would not accept the results of the ongoing census if the discrepancies are not removed. He was speaking at a protest camp held outside the Sindh Governor House against what he said attempts to understate the population of the megacity. He suggested on the occasion multiple corrections in the census procedure to ensure transparency.
He said that those who were at the helm of affairs had been mocking the spirit of the census. Each and every person living in the city must be counted as a Karachiite, he added.
Rehman was of the view that any move to understate the population of Karachi would be tantamount to depriving the residents of the city of their due share in representation on all levels as well as resources.
The JI leader made it clear that the people of Karachi would not tolerate such injustice, and the results of the census would not be accepted if they were not accurate.
Addressing the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, he asked why the census lacked any mechanism for the people to confirm if or not they had been counted.
He demanded that the authorities constitute a committee comprising stakeholders of the city to monitor the process of census.
The JI leader announced protest demonstrations on all major roads of the city next week.
He lamented that the ruling parties were not willing to play their due role in connection with actual counting of the population because it was not in favour of their agendas.
Rehman lambasted the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for notifying the flawed results of the last census that was held in 2017. He alleged that the MQM-P and Pakistan Peoples Party were once again united over an anti-Karachi stance in connection with the census.
