JI leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
RAWALPINDI:
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday denounced the Punjab Local Government Act as a “black law”, alleging that new legislation was being drafted to facilitate horse-trading and entrench elites’ control over power and resources.
Addressing participants in a JI sit-in on Liaquat Road against the Punjab Local Government Act, the party’s emir said state-sponsored advertising campaigns featuring “the king and queen” were being funded by taxpayers’ money, while ordinary citizens continued to suffer from increased taxes and reduced public services.
He asked the protesters if they were willing to lay siege to the Punjab Assembly and announced that he would expose what he called the “facade of development projects” for the next two days.
He also announced that a nationwide public referendum would be held on January 15.
Despite the rains, Hafiz Naeem praised the participants for their participation, recalling that Jamaat-e-Islami had organized a 14-day sit-in last year and asked if they were willing to do it again.
He alleged that the establishment had installed forces produced through “Form 47” in power, claiming that the leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, had lost the elections.
“If they are champions, let them produce the original forms,” he said, adding that those who sit in the assemblies did not really win the elections, but were imposed.
He said Pakistan would have to wage a long struggle for constitutional supremacy, noting that neither the PTI nor the PML-N governments had held local government elections for the past six years.
Denouncing dynastic politics, he said a handful of families, including the “Chaudhrys” and “waderas” in Punjab and the Zardari family in Sindh, wanted to retain power indefinitely, accumulating wealth through grand schemes and bribes. He argued that the bureaucracy should function under elected local governments, rather than concentrating authority in unelected hands, adding that a single qualified CSS official often dominated multiple administrative positions.
Referring to federal minister Ahsan Iqbal’s statement that 26.2 million children were out of school, Hafiz Naeem said the figure was based on a three-year-old report, accusing the government of outsourcing schools instead of correcting governance failures.
He also criticized the outsourcing of Basic Health Units in Punjab, alleging that services were being privatized while photographs of Maryam Nawaz were displayed. Punjab should be compared with its own potential and not with Sindh, he added.
He further said that new taxes were being imposed on the poor at a time when global oil prices were at their lowest level in five years, accusing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) itself of corruption. Calling for structural reform, he said deputy commissioners should be subordinate to elected mayors.
He further said that the Jamaat-e-Islami had approached the courts and a hearing had been scheduled for the next day, although he regretted that the current judicial system was not delivering justice.
