ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has strongly criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for purchasing a costly and luxury aircraft for her personal use at a time when the province is witnessing a sharp rise in child malnutrition, poverty and social distress.
In a post on social media platform X, Rehman referred to two news reports published on the same day — one about the Punjab government purchasing a new aircraft costing around Rs10 billion, and the other highlighting an alarming increase in malnutrition among children and women across the province. “These two reports belong to the same day and the same province. On the one hand, Punjab is facing a frightening surge in malnutrition among children and women, while on the other hand, a luxury aircraft worth Rs10 billion has been bought for the chief minister,” he said.
He also criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for selling Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at a throwaway price, adding that while the PM celebrated the move, his niece, the chief minister, went ahead and purchased a luxury aircraft for elite travel.
Rehman said that over 10 million children in Punjab were out of school, while the provincial government had imposed cuts on pensions of government employees, besides privatising thousands of public schools and basic health units. “Yet, there is no reduction in the privileges and extravagant lifestyle of the ruling elite,” he remarked.
“National poverty has increased from 21.9 per cent to 28.8 per cent over the past six years, reflecting a net rise of over 31 per cent, while the country’s debt had soared to unprecedented levels,” he said, adding: “This is the performance report of the ruling alliance.”
The JI chief added that despite borrowing billions of dollars under successive IMF programmes and spending trillions of rupees under the Benazir Income Support Programme, the situation had worsened, exposing massive mismanagement and policy failure. “The ruling parties have no genuine programme for public welfare. Their policies revolve around safeguarding elite interests. They can spend Rs11 billion on luxury air travel, regardless of the nation’s suffering,” he remarked.
