JI announces support for Black Day to be observed by KU teachers

Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Monem Zafar has termed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's recent decision an attack on the autonomy of universities which also showed the Sindh government’s dual standards for the varsities in Karachi and those in other parts of Sindh.

Addressing a press conference held at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the Karachi JI headquarters, Zafar announced the party’s full support for Black Day announced by teachers of the University of Karachi (KU) as well as a federation of universities.

He said Black Day would be observed across Sindh against clamping the autonomy of universities. Comparing the KU with other universities of Sindh, he said the difference between fees for the KU and the University of Sindh was five times.

Similarly, he said, there were 28 buses for the 45,000 students of the KU, whereas there were 70 buses for the 22,000 students of the University of Sindh. The JI leader also highlighted the issues of the youth, traders and other segments of society stating that all of them were sick of the 'system' being run by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The traders were justified in crying foul as the PPP government was only focused on strengthening the system of plundering, Zafar alleged. He added that the traders had been demanding opportunities for safe investment, whereas Sindh was infected with corruption culture, extortion and other evils.

He shed light in detail on the situation of infrastructure in the megacity. Citing the example of the Karimabad Underpass, the JI leader said the project was inaugurated in 2023 with a cost of Rs1.3 billion and it was supposed to be completed by 2025. Now the project was hardly completed only 20 per cent and its cost had been increased to Rs3.8 billion.

He also highlighted the water crisis in Karachi and condemned the water corporation for sheltering the tanker mafia and proudly announcing hefty profits on it. He also spoke on the medical colleges test issue and demanded that the authorities increase numbers of test centres in Karachi.