KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Friday said there was no space left for ethnicity-based politics and in the next general elections the people of Karachi would vote for those who served them in the past.

Addressing an Iftar dinner in honour of city dignitaries, industrialists, businessmen and media persons at the party’s Karachi headquarters Idara Noor-i-Haq, he said despite being the business capital and revenue engine of the country, the city suffered and remained neglected by the power corridors which “used it as a ground for their conspiracies and political rivalries.

“As a result, we witnessed this city of lights descending into darkness with bloodshed and violence in the name of ethnicity, sectarianism and politics,” he said.

“However, over the years the politically mature people of Karachi have identified and spotted all those elements and forces which used their names and city for their gains. The next general elections will bring an opportunity for them to practically reject them and mark new beginning.”

He said the JI was the only political force in the country which had organised its party at the grass-roots level. When all political parties, he said, were holding rallies only to champion politically meaty issues in the city, the JI Karachi was raising the issues related to the common people including power and water.

“We urge the people to come out and use the power of their vote to end the politics of hatred and violence,” he said.

“This city elected and supported the people which they believed were among them but in return this city was defamed and gifted with the culture of terrorism and violence both for local and foreign conspirators. A peaceful Karachi is the need of 200 million people of Pakistan and the entire nation prays for its peace and prosperity. The people of Karachi demand a free and fair election here so that they could decide about their future.”

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2018