JI asks govt for alternative routes as it stages five more sit-ins today

As part of its strategy to maximise its pressure on the Sindh government to withdraw the controversial local government law, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will stage five additional sit-ins on major arteries of Karachi today.

Addressing the protesters at the ongoing sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly on Thursday, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman asked the provincial government, the city administration and the traffic police for alternative routes and arrangements to facilitate the masses, saying the party had announced the sit-in points in advance.

He said the JI would not end the sit-in without a written agreement with the Sindh government. “The PPP leadership asked the JI not to take to the streets. I want to know if the PPP itself was taking out rallies in space or what,” he asked.

The JI leader also condemned the police brutality and torture on MQM-P workers and also asked the party’s leadership to clarify if any death occurred during the protest, and if so whether it was the result of police torture.

The religious party has planned to organise sits-in on the Super Highway, National Highway, Sharea Faisal, Mauripur Road and a Lasblea road, while the sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly will also continue.

An Awami National Party Sindh delegation, led by provincial secretary general Younas Bunairee, also visited the JI’s sit-in camp to show solidarity with the ongoing campaign against the disputed local government law.