LAHORE / KARACHI: Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, known for his populist approach and vocal leadership in Karachi, has been elected the sixth emir of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), defeating established figures like Sirajul Haq and Liaqat Baloch and setting a new course for the party.

Rashid Naseem, the head of the JI election commission, announced the decision at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Mansoora.

Mr Naseem told the media that most party members had cast their votes in favour of Hafiz Naeem to lead the party. However, as per party policy, he didn’t disclose the number of votes earned by each candidate.

Hafiz Naeem, a professional engineer, currently serves as the emir of the JI Karachi chapter. He is set to lead the party until April 8, 2029.

Defeats veterans Sirajul Haq, Liaqat Baloch; will lead party until April 2029

Before his entry into national politics, he was actively involved in student politics and held the position of elected nazim-i-aala (president) of the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT).

Mr Naseem revealed that over 82 per cent of the JI members participated in the election. JI has over 45,000 members, including around 6,000 women, who form the electoral college for the emir’s election.

The JI’s election commission, an elected body itself, was responsible for overseeing the election process.

Mr Naseem, the JI election commission head, said the election was conducted through secret balloting. The process began on Feb 19, with the printing and distribution of ballot papers among the members, and concluded on March 25. He said the election process was smooth and peaceful and ended on April 3.

The party’s 100-member shura, or governing body, had proposed three names for the consideration of the JI members: the outgoing Emir Sirajul Haq, Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch, and Hafiz Naeem. However, members were also free to suggest any other name as well.

Hafiz Naeem is the sixth person to occupy the top party post, following Maulana Abul A’la Maududi (1941-72), Mian Tufail Muhammad (1972-87), Qazi Hussain Ahmed (1987-2008), Munawer Hassan (2008-2013) and Sirajul Haq (2013-2024).

With Hafiz Naeem elected as the new emir, political pundits see the breaking of many trends in Jamaat’s set patterns of political behaviour. They see it as a sign of populism creeping into the Jamaat as the newly-minted emir has been able to capture the attention of the media and the public far more than both his rivals in recent days.

He has been the most prominent voice of his party, leaving far behind both his rivals Sirajul Haq and an old guard Liaqat Baloch and appealing directly to the voters, which seems to have paid off.

“Jamaat, a religious and conventional party, normally avoids tradition-breaking leaders,” a party insider said.

Who is Hafiz Naeem?

The 52-year-old graduate of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Hafiz Naeem has risen to the top slot of the party, which was founded over 82 years ago in Lahore, before Partition.

Hafiz Naeem, who was born in Hyderabad and moved to Karachi after matriculation, turned out to be an active political activist from his teenage years and became the IJT chief in 1998.

He entered mainstream politics in 2000 when he formally joined the Jamaat after years of student activism. He then climbed through the ranks to become the emir of JI’s Karachi chapter in 2013.

During his decade-old leadership of the party in Karachi, Hafiz Naeem became a strong voice not only of the JI but was also often seen as the leading campaigner for the city and its rights.

From campaigning against inflated power bills and excessive power outages in Karachi to the movement against the real-estate giant Bahria Town demanding justice and “true utilisation” of Karachiites’ hard-earned money, Hafiz Naeem became a household name of Karachi politics.

His growing popularity helped the JI stage a strong comeback in electoral politics, first in the Cantonment Board elections in September 2021 and then in the local bodies election in January 2023.

Though the party failed to create any impact in National Assembly constituencies of Karachi in the Feb 8 general elections, it claimed to have won over half a dozen seats of the Sindh Assembly which it said were stolen and given away to rival parties through alleged vote rigging.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2024