LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has warned the rulers that blocking democratic pathways and branding political dissent as treason will not resolve the country’s deepening crises.

“The powerful must abandon manipulation through ‘RTS’ and ‘Form-47 tactics’ and stop imposing restrictions on the youth,” he said while addressing the participants of a training camp at Mansoora on Friday.

He said Pakistan is being held hostage by a class that thrives on corruption, oppression, falsehood and injustice. The “imposed elite”, he added, has deprived the nation of basic rights such as education, healthcare and justice. Resisting the obsolete system and its protectors is a fundamental religious obligation, said Mr Rehman, asserting that his part will bring change through the strength of public opinion.

He said the rulers are fearful of the new generation, particularly Generation Z, and are systematically closing the doors of education and employment on them. He warned that widespread despair among the youth is pushing them toward drug abuse. To counter this, he said, Alkhidmat Foundation and JI have expanded the “Bano Qabil” initiative into a comprehensive youth development project called ‘Z-Connect’, aimed at providing education, skills and moral training. “We will not allow our youth to become victims of systemic oppression,” he said, expressing confidence that genuine change would come through public support, especially the younger generation.

Referring to Bangladesh, Rehman said the JI there faced decades of brutal repression, with senior leaders executed and thousands of workers imprisoned under the rule of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter, Sheikh Hasina. He said that Sheikh Mujib, along with Gen Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, played a central role in the breakup of Pakistan.

Rehman said that public resentment against India has grown in Bangladesh. He said Bangladeshi people have set ablaze statues of Sheikh Mujib while Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, through patience and steadfast struggle, has emerged as a major political force.

The JI chief urged the participants to avoid sectarianism and cautioned against adopting traditions and customs that contradict the spirit of Islam, calling such practices a form of idolatry.

Highlighting social injustices, he said denial of women’s inheritance rights has become a norm in Pakistan, vowing that the JI would ensure women receive their rightful share.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026