JI Emir Announces Province-Wide Sit-Ins Against Punjab Local Government Law

9گھنٹے پہلے

JI Emir Announces Province-Wide Sit-Ins Against Punjab Local Government Law

Lahore, Dec 7: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has announced a further expansion of protests against the Punjab Local Government Act, declaring province-wide sit-ins in all districts on December 21. He termed the law unconstitutional, anti-democratic and a move to render the public completely powerless.
Addressing a protest rally on Lahore’s Mall Road against the local government law, Rehman said the so-called new system had transferred all authority to the provincial government and bureaucracy, depriving citizens of their right to self-governance. He also directed Jamaat-e-Islami workers to hold demonstrations in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in favour of an empowered local government system.
Calling the law a “black law,” the JI chief said the party would intensify its struggle to empower the people. He announced plans for people’s courts, continued protests at street and neighbourhood levels, and legal action by challenging the law in courts. Despite what he described as government control over institutions, Rehman said Jamaat-e-Islami would approach the judiciary to fulfil its constitutional obligation, expressing hope that judges would rule in favour of the public.
Criticising the non-party basis of local government elections, he warned that it would encourage horse-trading after polls. Questioning PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, Rehman asked which democratic system allowed non-party elections and why local government polls were not held in Punjab for the past ten years. He also questioned the contradiction between Nawaz Sharif’s slogan of “respect the vote” and his entry into parliament through Form-47.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said genuine local governments meant devolution of powers to the grassroots, something entirely reversed under the new Punjab law, making it a clear violation of the Constitution. He said that the country’s system remained controlled by bureaucracy, the establishment, dynastic political parties and a handful of feudal elites and capitalists, while the majority of citizens were deprived of basic facilities. Jamaat-e-Islami, he said, would continue its struggle against this outdated and exploitative system.
Protests against the Punjab Local Government Act were held across the province on the party chief’s instructions. Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari also addressed the Mall Road rally.
Separate demonstrations were led by JI Central Punjab Emir Javed Qasuri in Faisalabad, North Punjab Emir Dr Tariq Saleem in Gujrat, South Punjab Emir Syed Zeeshan Akhtar in Bahawalpur, and Punjab Deputy Emir Dr Zikrullah Mujahid in Sialkot, along with rallies in Vehari, Sahiwal, Okara, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Jhang and other districts.