‘JI to set up IT park, model educational institutes if elected’

karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said on Saturday that the past is witness to the fact that whenever elected, the party has incomparably served the city and its people despite limited time and resources.

“The JI’s candidate for the Karachi mayor, if elected, will establish an information technology park in the city,” said Rehman while addressing a party convention held in connection with the upcoming local government elections.

He highlighted the role of former mayors affiliated with the JI — Abdul Sattar Afghani and Naimatullah Khan — for the progress and development of the city. He said that both mayors had transformed the entire Karachi and addressed the real issues of the city.

He said the party’s mayor will also set up model educational institutes that will offer quality education without any class-based discrimination. JI’s mayor will not chant the mantra of powers and funds all the time, but rather deliver to Karachi and its people, he added.

“JI has fought for the rights of Karachi in the past, and the party will continue to do so as well,” he vowed. He pointed out that JI had held a sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly for 29 days to demand the city’s due rights.

Drawing comparisons with other political parties, he said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had ruled over the city for three and a half decades, but instead of taking a stand for the city, it failed its voters and supporters.

He pointed out that at one point in their 35-year era, the MQM had almost all MNAs and MPAs from the city, besides eight senators, the city mayor’s office and the province’s governorship.

The JI leader said that the entire city used to open and close on the whims of the MQM, but unfortunately, the party’s leaders only enjoyed indulging in politics of division and hatred. He recalled that the Karachi Circular Railway had shut its operations during the MQM’s tenure.