KARACHI, June 22: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal demanded that the forthcoming local bodies’ polls should be conducted under the supervision of army, accusing that Rangers and police had failed to maintain law and order in Karachi.

Addressing a press conference here at Quba Auditorium, MMA leader and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Sindh Amir Dr Mumtaz Memon said that 12 activists of MMA were gunned down in the presence of police and Rangers during by-election last year, “and these law enforcing agencies had failed to ensure peaceful atmosphere for the polls”.

He alleged that a minority group was imposed on people of Sindh after the general election of 2002 instead of transferring power to the majority party. Due to this, lawlessness, price hike and unemployment reached on its peak, he added.

He demanded that federal government should dismiss the Sindh government as well as its governor saying that under the present setup, free and fair local bodies’ polls would be a distant dream. Justifying his fear, he said that the present provincial setup was in power last year when 12 MMA workers were gunned down during the by-elections. He said that prominent religious and political leaders like PPP MPA Abdullah Murad, Munawwar Suharwardi, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, JI leaders Aslam Mujahid and Tahir Jamal were assassinated, but the perpetrators were yet to be arrested. The provincial and federal government have failed to fulfil their responsibilities in this regard, he alleged.

Mumtaz Memon alleged that the Sindh government had started a ‘pre-poll rigging’, instead of providing a tranquil atmosphere to the masses to ensure that the voters would cast their right of franchise in free and fearless manner.

The MMA leader unveiled that City Nazim Niamatullah Khan would be the candidate of JI in upcoming local bodies’ elections. He bitterly criticized a party of Sindh coalition government for “committing terrorism to hijack the public opinion for getting desired result in the coming polls”.

Quoting MQM Minister Shoaib Bokhari’s statement in which he had reportedly said that it would be ensured that the same party would rule at both provincial and district levels, he said this clearly indicated the provincial government’s plan to rig the polls. “Efforts to get the opinion of masses through bullet instead of ballot would surely have bad effects in other provinces,” he observed.

Mumtaz Memon appealed to the federal government to take notice of the “pre-poll rigging of provincial government”. He said that JI Sindh was going to convene an All Parties Conference at Quba Auditorum under chairmanship of MMA central leader Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmed to discuss the law and order situation in the province, tribal feuds and recent terrorism in the metropolis.

He also apprised that the JI would hold protest demonstrations across the province from June 24 to 30 against the government’s failure to arrest the culprits involved in Aslam Mujahid and Tahir Jamal’s murders.

Mumtaz Sehto, Rashid Naseem, Abdul Hafiz Bajarani, Hafiz Nasrullah Aziz and Mujahid Channa were also present on the occasion. —PPI