JI wants new constituencies based on accurate census before LG polls

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter has demanded that the government conduct local government elections after establishing news constituencies on the basis of a new and accurate census.

JI Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made this demand at the party’s Eid event at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the party’s Karachi headquarters, on the first day of Eidul Fitr.

The party’s central, provincial and city leaders, including Asadullah Bhutto, Rashid Naseem, Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Usama Razi, Ishaq Khan, and others, attended the event.

Rehman said the JI would soon announce the next phase of its Huqooq-e-Karachi Tehreek (Karachi Rights Movement) and right after Eid, a mass contact drive would be launched to mobilise residents of the city for their due rights.

No ruling regime unfortunately paid heed to the burning issues of the mega city that happened to be the economic nerve of the country, he said. For the last 30 years, the people of Karachi had been the victims of politics of discrimination and bias, he added.

“Even, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s MNAs and MPAs never raised their voice on any issue of Karachi, but instead always made anti-Karachi decisions,” he remarked. “But now, the city of 35 million people of Karachi is returning to its original state and showing their support for the JI.”

The JI city chief said the party had always played a significant role, even more than its mandate, for the betterment of the city and would continue to do so.

He was of the view that the incumbent ruling regime in the Centre was also following the footprints of the previous governments and had extended the flawed policy of continuing with the International Monetary Fund’s programme. “As a result another floodgate for inflation is about to open, bringing another wave of inflation for lower and middle classes of the society,” he stated.

Talking about the K-Electric (KE), Rehman said the private electricity company did not spare Karachiites from load-shedding even on the occasion of Eidul Fitr. He added that the residents of the city demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cancel the licence of the KE and conduct a forensic audit of its accounts.