HYDERABAD: Emir Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has said that the PPP has divided Sindh on ethnic and nationalist lines while ruling the province for years as what he termed the “A-team of the establishment”.

He was speaking at an annual gathering of khatam-i-Bukhari in Jamia Uloom Islamia, Mansoorah, Matiari, on Sunday. He said that the US was biggest “taghut” (oppressive power) in the world today, saying that global imperial forces were involved in the genocide of Muslims. He criticised US President Donald Trump for issuing threats of military attacks and “speaking in a god-like tone”.

He said the PPP has been enjoying a free hand in Sindh for nearly 17 years, yet millions of children remained out of school and basic rights such as health, education, employment, and justice were denied to people. “A single family has ruled Sindh for decades but 7.8m children were still not attending schools. Despite receiving trillions of rupees from federal government, development existed only on paper,” he regretted.

Hafiz Naeem said the JI would not abandon the people of Sindh and continue its struggle to free them from injustice and exploitation. He announced that under the leadership of Sindh emir Kashif Saeed Sheikh, the JI would take public issues directly to the masses and hold rulers accountable.

US-Isreali aggression in Gaza

Referring to global affairs, he said that thousands of children had been killed and millions of homes destroyed in Gaza under Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Trump had acted as his patron. He chided Western powers for selectively championing human rights only when it suited their interests, citing recent protests against inflation in Iran as an example.

The JI emir stressed that Gen Z included not only school-going children, but students of religious seminaries, children of farmers, labourers and brick-kiln workers.

Those who attended the ceremony included Sindh emir Kashif Saeed Sheikh, Jamia administrator Maulana Ahsan Bhutto, provincial deputy emirs Nizamuddin Memon and Hafiz Nasrullah Channa, general secretary Mohammad Yousaf and district emir Faqir Mohammad Mansori.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2026