Mr Khan said that since the Election Commission had already declared 90 per cent of the polling stations in Karachi as ‘sensitive’, it would only be logical to deploy the army. He was speaking at a news conference at the local press club.

Asked whether the JI would boycott the local body polls if the army was not deployed, Mr Khan said: “We are not going to run away and leave the field open for terrorists.”

He alleged that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had become a symbol of terrorism with its “gun-toting hooligans, extortionists and harassment creating cadres”.

He said the provincial chief minister had become a stooge in the hands of the MQM which had been allowed free use of state machinery in the elections. In addition to that, he said the MQM had planned to deploy 3,000 private security guards in order “to manipulate the election”.

Already, he said, the MQM had occupied 60 municipal buildings in Karachi and had hoisted their party flags there.

He demanded that a commission comprising representatives of four provinces be constituted to investigate into alleged activities of the MQM.

Calling the Jamaat-i-Islami a potent political force in Karachi, Mr Khan said if the lives of both voters and contestants were adequately protected the party would comfortably win the local body polls there.

He recalled the slaying of 11 people in by-elections held on a national and provincial assembly seat in Karachi. He warned that the city would again witness bloodshed if the government failed to provide adequate security.

Mr Khan criticized the way the MQM allegedly operated and said the party was ready “to first eliminate its own workers and then attend their funerals”.