KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has reiterated its demand for deployment of army troops at polling stations in Karachi to ensure fair and transparent elections.

Speaking at an election rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah here on Sunday, JI leaders said that fair and transparent elections were necessary for getting Karachi rid of target killing and extortion.

They warned that if army troops were not deployed in Karachi the ‘thappa mafia’ would hijack the polls.

JI Amir Syed Munawar Hassan said the future of the country was linked to fair elections.

Terming US intervention in the affairs of Pakistan the biggest problem faced by it, Mr Hassan said those who called themselves ‘liberal’ were in fact the supporters of the US policies and those who opposed US intervention were being called ‘conservatives’.

“I want to make it clear to the so-called liberals that Pakistan was created so that [holy] Quran and Sunnah could be followed here,” he remarked.

The JI chief held the PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party responsible for lawlessness in Karachi, saying “they are reaping what they sowed”.

He urged the people of Karachi to reject in the elections the parties whose members were involved in criminal activities. The JI wanted to make Karachi a peaceful city once again, he added.

Referring to the situation in Balochistan, Mr Hassan said Baloch nationalists took up arms because of the bad treatment meted out to them by successive governments.

He sympathised with the people of Fata and the tribal areas, saying repeated military operations had made their lives miserable.

He criticised a recent statement by Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Military operations had created distances between the army and the people of the country, he added.