KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Saturday staged a sit-in near Numaish traffic intersection in protest over growing fatal road accidents involving heavy vehicles and looting of the people in the name of e-challans.

The party also criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government for introducing heavy traffic fines as well as dilapidated infrastructure and violation of citizens’ rights.

Carrying banners and placards, a number of JI activists gathered on a roadside of the Numaish traffic intersection to stage their protest.

The protesters chanted slogans against the Sindh government, the traffic police and the unchecked tanker mafia.

Addressing the sit-in, JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar Khan said the Sindh government and traffic police have effectively issued a licence to the “dumper and tanker mafia” to kill citizens.

He questioned the authorities’ silence over the increasing fatalities caused by heavy vehicles.

About e-challans, he said with fines ranging between Rs5,000 and Rs20,000 the government had launched an organised system of extortion.

The PPP, he added, is not willing to provide Karachi with a dignified public transport as it had brought only 400 buses for a population of 35 million during its 17-year rule.

“This sit-in is the voice of the people of Karachi. We will not abandon them under any circumstances. We will not let the oppressive rulers escape and will continue to pursue them,” he said.

MPA Muhammad Farooq said: “We are not against e-challans as we only want reasonable fines in Karachi like other cities.”

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2025