KARACHI, Feb 9: Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, deputy chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, has appealed to the government to ensure that people enjoy the freedom to donate hides and skins of sacrificial animals to organization of their choice.

No political party or organization should be allowed to force people to give them hides and skins of sacrificial animals.

Prof Ghafoor, who is also a central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, was speaking at a press conference at the Idara Noor-i-Haq on Sunday. Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui and Dr Tabassum Jafri were also present.

Referring to the ban imposed by the city government on setting up camps for collecting hides, he said his party had asked its workers to comply with all the instructions in this regard and also expected from the government that other parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which was part of the government, would also comply with the government’s directive.

The JI leader recalled the record of services of the party’s subsidiary organization “the Al-Khidmat Pakistan,” and gave details of the services being rendered by the organization.

He said more than Rs87m were spent on social services.

In reply to a question, he said all income from hides and skins collected in a city or town was being spent in that city or town on providing help to deserving families, destitutes, widows, for marriage of girls, to students and other social services, including four hospitals, eight health centres, dental centres, ultrasound and diagonistic centres and educational institutions and hearse services being run by the Al-Khidmat.

Prof Ghafoor said the funds being spent to provide help to oppressed Kashmiris, Afghan refugees and Jehad-i-Kashmir.