Speeches will not change nation’s fate: JI Karachi chief

The fate of the nation will not change by just making good speeches, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday as he decried the increasing inflation in the country due to adopting policies suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Talking to The News, the JI city chief said it was strange that Prime Minister Imran Khan was saying that critical period had ended and his government had saved the country from an imminent default at the time when the currency was steadily depreciating.

The whole country had been put under the burden of debt and the deal with the IMF had caused the prices of essential goods to skyrocket, he said. The JI Karachi emir lamented the high unemployment in the country as workers were losing jobs and their families were demanding of the prime minister to provide immediate relief to them.

The government should pay attention to the miseries of people and reduce the price of petrol, gas and electricity, he said, adding that people were not interested in hearing about big guns being sent behind the bars as what they wanted was justice at ground level.

Rehman lamented that the prime minister completely ignored Karachi in the federal budget and did not acknowledge the fact that the city generated 70 per cent of revenue for the country.

He demanded that the development package for Karachi be raised to Rs500 billion. He also urged the need for implementing Islamic laws in the country so that the economy was freed from interest. The JI had started its protests against the government’s policies in Lahore and they would be expanded to the entire country, he said.