It has been more than two weeks time for the sit-in of Jamaat-e-Islami against the controversial Sindh Local Government Law. Though the dialogue was started by the Sindh government in the previous week and the first round of talks was also held between the protesting and government negotiating team, the picture is still blurred.
Meanwhile, three opposition entities in Sindh — Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday jointly staged a protest against controversial Sindh local government law at Karachi’s Fawara Chowk.
The leaders of Sindh opposition parties including MQM, PTI, and GDA attended the protest demonstration against the recently enacted local government law.
MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, federal minister Ali Zaidi, Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh, Sardar Abdul Rahim, and other leaders of opposition parties addressed the rally.
JI Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman in his address said that the JI has also decided to go with its program of march and sit-in on Shahrah-e-Faisal on Sunday.
Talking about today’s round of dialogue, he said that a list was constituted and handed over today to the committee representing the Sindh government. He said that the two sides discussed and shared their viewpoints over the demands.
He added that the PPP team was made clear that the JI has not been asking for face-saving neither it was asking for anything extra-ordinary. The PPP team agreed to some points and differed from others, he said, adding that it was decided that further consultations would continue.
He welcomed the development and warned the government not to push the matter to a point of no-return. He hailed the participants particularly women for their enthusiasm in connection with the sit-in for the rights of Karachi and Karachiities.
Talking about the demands presented by the JI, he said that union councils should be constituted in parity to other areas of the province.
Under these circumstances, it is a challenge for the Sindh government to tackle the protests with proper preparations and strategy avoiding any sort of chaos amid the disturbed political situation of the country.
The only way forward is to hold serious dialogue with the opposition to find out a solution to the problem. Though in the democracies, the majority is always considered powerful it is a must to listen to the opposition as well who are also presenting a mandate given to them by the masses.
