KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has urged political parties to launch a joint struggle to restore an atmosphere free of fear in Karachi.

“Neither the courts nor the journalists are free in the city. If anyone speaks the truth, he is found dead the next day,” he said while addressing an Iftar party at the JI office here on Saturday.

He said the ongoing heatwave in Karachi had exposed the inability of its hospitals and other institutions to cope with emergency.

Mr Haq deplored that a large number of people had died from heatstroke but no relief had been provided to their families. He appealed to the federal and provincial governments to take care of the families of heatwave victims.

He criticised the government for its failure to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity and water and urged all parties to sit together to find a solution to the problems.

He said people frequently asked him what would be the fate of the governments. “My answer is: let the federal and the provincial governments complete their tenures because reforms introduced through democratic means will be durable and effective.”

The JI chief said survival of the country depended on democracy and its future was linked to supremacy of law and the Constitution. Therefore, all parties should strive to uphold rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.

Referring to the anti-crime operation in Karachi, he said action against common man was tolerated but protests were organised when an influential person was targeted.

“A criminal should be treated as a criminal and should not be provided protection by any party. Only then will peace be restored.”

Senator Haq said over the past 20 years Karachi had been hijacked and its people had been living in constant fear, carrying guns in their vehicles or travelling with guards.

Referring to a recent BBC report about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement but without naming the party, he called for a transparent inquiry into the allegations levelled in the report.

“No one should be victimised on political grounds,” he warned and said that if any excess was committed against anyone on political grounds, the JI would support the victim.

He said only a few families were controlling the resources of the country. “A few people with the help of the corrupt bureaucracy have been ruling the country, whether it is an elected government or martial law.”

The situation calls for unity of the deprived people, irrespective of their political affiliations, against the forces that exploit them, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2015

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