KARACHI: Jamat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman met women journalists here on Wednesday at a local hotel to share his party manifesto and plans for the city if got elected as the mayor of the metropolis.

The JI leader said that everyone, all people including the transgender community, should benefit under him.

“The transgender community should not be seen as separate segment of the society, but rather as human beings and as citizens of Pakistan. They have the same rights as any other person here. So we will also work for them as we did during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when JI workers distributed food rations among them,” he pointed out.

Reminding of the biggest JI women sit-in at Hassan Square in January, he said that it should tell the people how important the party felt about the role of women for this city and this country.

Hafiz Naeem shares election manifesto with women journalists

“The issues faced by the city such as waste removal, water scarcity, transport, etc, equally affect women. The JI has a charter, which includes women. We want to empower women. We don’t want women workers here working for third party contractual companies. We want them to get equal pay as men. JI will be their voice,” he said.

Hafiz Naeem also said that they wanted to have dedicated recreational parks for women. He said that they already worked on skill development programmes for women. “We teach women in jail. We teach them English. We teach them Chinese,” he said.

He also said that the JI had a clear-cut agenda regarding transport facilities for women. “We need safe and reliable transport for women in Karachi. Today, it is a pain watching women travel in crowded buses. They are pushed, they are harassed. The JI will have nothing of it. There is a need for separate transport for women with women drivers and women conductors, which we will get for them,” he said.

He said there were 800 to 900 Karachi Metropolitan Corporation schools that came under the mayor of Karachi. “We will make them model schools. No one may remember it now, but there used to be a time when people used to line up outside government schools for their children’s admissions. We want our children to have a level playing field. Why should the rich only have a good education system?” He questioned.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2022