Hafiz Naeem slams PPP, announces sit-in outside Sindh Assembly on 14 February

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of holding Sindh hostage, saying that what he described as a system of occupation must be brought to an end.

Addressing the “Let Karachi Live” march organised by Jamaat-e-Islami on Shahrah-e-Faisal, Hafiz Naeem said the people wanted to see Karachi move forward and prosper.

He criticised the leadership for its absence following the Gul Plaza incident, saying there was no one to take responsibility. 

He pointed out that President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari live in Karachi but did not visit Gul Plaza, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also did not come to the city to console the affected families.

The JI chief said that successive rulers had deprived the public of their rights and stressed the need for an empowered local government system.

Hafiz Naeem said that handing the city over to the federal government was not a solution, adding that the Karachi Circular Railway had been destroyed and that the city lacked a proper master plan.

He announced that Jamaat-e-Islami would stage a “historic” sit-in on 14 February, stating that the protest would take place outside the Sindh Assembly and that the party would not disperse until authority was secured.