JI chief insists on biometric verification of voters

Karachi
If the government can verify 70 million SIMs through biometric system then it can also do the same for about 200,000 voters of NA-246.
This was stated by the chief of Jamat-e-Islami (JI), Senator Siraj-ul-Haq, while addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in the city, Idara-e-Noor Haq.
Accompanied by JI candidate for NA-246, Rashid Naseem, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman among other senior leaders, Haq said his party was not against any political party but wanted to work for a peaceful and prosperous Karachi where residents could go about their everyday businesses freely.
He also demanded from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make the list of presiding officers public before the by-poll since in the past there had been instances where political workers had been deployed at polling stations which had led to massive rigging.
According to the JI chief, party’s candidate for NA-246, Rashid Naseem, embodied the true sentiments of the constituency’s residents. He said the JI will be able to get votes on April 23 on the basis of the welfare works it had been carrying out.
He regretted that the ECP had failed to disburse its responsibilities to hold free and free elections since 1977.
But now, he said, the regulating body had no other option but to ensure that the polling on April 23 was transparent.
Without naming anyone, the JI chief said that certain elements wanted to plunge the city of lights into darkness and were worried about holding free and transparent election.
He said that the “city of lights” had seen some 300 strikes in a short period of time, and none of them were over issues of the people, such as water shortage and load shedding. “They were held just for political gains,” he said. “The uncertain situation of Karachi had compelled industrialists, businessmen and traders to shift their businesses to Dubai, Malaysia and other countries.”
He alleged that the MQM had held the entire city hostage for the past 26 years and had encroached upon public land, amenity plots, parks and playgrounds where it had set up party offices.
Haq said the services of Jamat-e-Islami leadership were not concealed from anyone, referring to a network of education centres, medical institutions, roads and other infrastructure laid during the tenure of former city nazim Naimatullah Khan Advocate.
He welcomed the Chinese president to Pakistan and said the country had risen above in a short span of time due to an honest and corruption-free leadership, despite being bridled with a massive population and other economic issues.
“Pakistan can also progress if it follows in the footsteps of the Chinese and eliminates corrupt practices from the country,” he added.

JI holds rally
Later on Monday evening the party organised a rally which emerged from its election camp at Naseerabad. It went towards Waterpump Chowrangi from where it took a U-turn to go to Karimabad before finally circling back to the party’s camp at Naseerabad.
During his address to supporters and potential voters, JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq made a few very pointed jibes against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and its chief Altaf Hussain.
He said everyone knew who had turned Ajmal Siddiqui into Ajmal Pahari and who was responsible behind ruining the life of Saulat Mirza. “Altaf Hussain keeps apologising from the establishment but he should also explain what he apologises for,” he said. “Does he apologise for killing 286 workers in Baldia, or the carnage on May 12 or the murder of Imran Farooq or burning lawyers alive?”
He said Karachi was no one’s personal territory and everyone had equal rights over it.
He said the by-election will bring to the fore the true wishes of the people and whom they wanted to be represented by.
“The battle isn’t between races or ethnicities, it is between the oppressor and the suppressed,” he said. “The power of vote will decide the fate of this battle.”