RAWALPINDI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has announced a nationwide public referendum on January 15 against Punjab’s “black” local government law and the failure to grant powers to local government institutions across the country.
He was addressing a protest sit-in organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Rawalpindi at Liaquat Bagh against Punjab’s black local government law. Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami North Punjab Dr. Tariq Saleem, Secretary General Iqbal Khan, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Rawalpindi Syed Arif Shah Shirazi, and Raza Ahmed Shah also addressed the sit-in.
The JI chief said the results of the referendum would be shared with the entire nation and the world.After obtaining a mandate through public opinion in the referendum, he said, they will march towards all four provincial assemblies and stage sit-ins in front of them for public rights.He added that the rulers’ “dark deeds” and “black’ local government law are unacceptable under any circumstances.
This is a movement for the people’s rights and authority, and it will be continued.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that the usurpation of local government powers would not be accepted under any circumstances.He said a shameful plan to hold non-party local elections had been devised.
He added that horse-trading that takes place in the Senate and the national and provincial assemblies is now being planned for every street and neighborhood.
“We do not accept this black law and will launch a strong movement against it,” he said. He further stated that all provincial governments in the country keep powers in their own hands, and that a fake tug-of-war is going on in the name of the NFC Award.
He accused the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of deceiving public.
He said the Sindh government has consumed billions of rupees meant for Karachi.He said a single bureaucrat runs the entire system, despite the Constitution making it mandatory to hold local government elections. Bureaucrats, he said, have taken control of local government institutions.
“This is not a system of officer rule but a system of servant rule,” he said, adding that the bureaucracy has become subservient to political families.
The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said it is the government’s responsibility to provide free, quality, and equal education.
He pointed out that more than 10 million children in Punjab are out of school, and that under the pretext of privatisation, public schools are being put up for plunder.He said that under the name of Maryam Nawaz clinics, the government is evading its responsibilities.
He stressed that Punjab should be compared with Punjab itself, not with Sindh, and questioned where the trillions of rupees in development funds for Punjab have been spent.
He said taxes are imposed on the poor while the privileged class enjoys benefits.Questioning the role of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), he asked what its 25,000 employees are doing, and if all taxes are indirect, what purpose the FBR serves.
He said that to resolve public issues, the country’s real leadership must come forward.He demanded the introduction of an empowered local government system in Punjab and said the bureaucracy should be subordinate to elected local representatives.
“We want to change the system,” he said, adding that the current judicial system also fails to deliver justice to the people.Dr. Tariq Saleem said that the “Form 47” rulers want to seize control of Punjab’s local government institutions.
