The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has held a protest against inflation and unemployment in Pakistan and accused the Imran Khan-led government ally -- Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) of being "part of mafia."
A big rally was organised on New MA Jinnah Road against the ongoing crisis including inflation and unemployment and described the K-Electric, a Karachi-based energy company, and MQM-P "part of mafia", reported Dawn on Monday.
The political party also accused the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government of taking dictation from the IMF. The rally was held on Sunday on the call of party chief Sirajul Haq.
Dawn reported that the protesters, carrying placards and banners, chanted slogans against rising inflation and the rulers. They also raised slogans against the interest-based economic system in the country.
Addressing the rally, JI Karachi chief Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman talked about a range of issues that cause inflation and unemployment.
"The issue of inflation and joblessness affects the kitchens of almost 98 per cent populace in the country," he said.
Rejecting the "promising figures" issued by the government, he termed them "fake and fabricated" arguing that the impact of the same figures did not reflect on the daily life of the masses.
"The recent budget has been passed on the direction of IMF and affected the common man in a very adverse manner," he said.
Hafiz Rehman also talked about "under the table" conditions put up by the IMF and linked the recently passed family bill with the secret conditions, saying that the legislation was "contradictory to the Islamic principles". He said such types of draft laws would not be tolerated.
Highlighting the plight of Karachi, he said that the country's commercial capital was being discriminated against to gain political points.
He said that the MQM-P recently offered JI a joint struggle to secure Karachi's future.
The JI chief reminded the MQM-P that it was currently part of the federal government enjoying treasury benches in the National Assembly and had also remained part of the Sindh government for long but failed to take any solid measures to secure the rights of Karachiites.
He accused the MQM-P of supporting those who had notified the "fake" results of the population census in which Karachi's population was "halved" in official papers.
He said the MQM-P was part of the mafia that ruined the city of lights.
"The KE, a private mafia company, has been overcharging for long because the founder of the company, wanted by several countries under multiple offences, is enjoying the support of PTI leaders," the JI leader said.
Pakistan has been witnessing high unemployment, poverty and inflation. Due to that the country's economy is under stress and the government plans to take nearly 16 billion dollars gross foreign loans in the next fiscal year to meet the requirements of maturing external public debt and cover up of the budget deficit.
( With inputs from ANI )
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