• JI stages rally to criticise govt for ignoring civic woes, focusing on number plates with Arjak design
• Traffic police using new number plates campaign as a ‘trap for bribery’, alleges Monem Zafar
• Muttahida urges review of fees, seeks mobile camps to ease process

KARACHI: The criticism by the opposition parties against a government move to replace vehicle number plates with new Ajrak-themed designs and allow traffic police to issue hefty fines against ordinary people gained momentum as they demanded that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stop law enforcers from taking extreme action and waive the fees for the new number plates.

On Sunday, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) organised a “bike rally” and hundreds of motorcyclists took to the streets, protesting against the PPP government and accusing it of “enabling corruption and creating new opportunities for law enforcement officials to demand bribes”.

The protesters also questioned the priorities and policies of the provincial government, accusing it of “failing” to provide basic necessities and essential public services while focusing instead on vehicle registration plates.

The bike rally kicked off from Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad and concluded near Fresco Chowk, off Burns Road, drawing a large crowd, with the majority of participants being young riders.

Addressing the participants, the JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar strongly lambasted the PPP government over its “wrongful” approach and priorities aimed at “minting money”, instead of bringing some ease to Karachiites.

“The Karachiites are facing multiple daily life crises. They are facing acute water shortage, the roads in the city are broken, garbage has become a big issue and health risk in a large number of areas. There are only 400 buses for 35 million people, infrastructure has gone, load-shedding is still a problem in several towns, but the PPP government has chosen number plates to keep its focus on,” he added.

In this backdrop, he said, bikers were halted at every nook and corner of the city, and the number plates campaign was being used as a “trap for bribery” by the “corrupt” elements in the traffic police.

He urged the government to reconsider its decision and immediately halt the campaign, warning that failure to do so would provoke a strong public protest from the people of Karachi.

The growing controversy over the fresh campaign of the government and the imposition of a new fee for culturally-themed plates has started attracting criticism from almost all political parties in Karachi.

Muttahida demands review of fee

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has directed its Sindh Assembly members to urgently meet with the provincial Excise Minister to address the public’s concerns.

In a statement, the MQM-P central committee highlighted that over 3.3 million motorcycles and 2.3 million vehicles are registered in Karachi, yet their owners — despite applying and paying online — are not receiving number plates on time.

“Complaints remain unresolved, and citizens face harassment from traffic police for not displaying plates, even though they have already paid the required fee during registration,” it said.

The party demanded that mobile camps be set up on main roads for plate distribution and that plates be couriered directly to applicants, to eliminate long queues and exploitation by agents.

It has also called for a review of the plate fees and rebates for those who have already paid under the old system.

Afaq calls it ‘Ajrak tax’

Separately, Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-Haqiqi) chairman Afaq Ahmed strongly condemned the Sindh government’s decision to issue new Ajrak-themed number plates for motorcycles, charging Rs1,850 per vehicle.

Calling it a discriminatory “Ajrak tax,” he warned that such policies could lead to dangerous ethnic divisions within the province.

“We do not want Sindh’s division, but if this injustice continues, a strong public reaction is inevitable,” he said.

He also accused the Sindh government of treating Karachi like a “colony”, “exploiting” its resources while “denying” residents basic infrastructure, transport, education and law enforcement.

He demanded equal compensation for victims of traffic accidents in Karachi, similar to that provided in interior Sindh.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2025