PPP leader Sharmila Faruqui has slammed the Jamaat-e-Islami for making an alliance with the PTI before the Karachi mayor elections, saying that the Sindh-ruling party would not leave Karachi in the hands of a “rioter [PTI]”.
“The PTI has returned to its original state of 2018. The people who were given to them via selection have returned and left them,” she said on Aaj News programme Faisla Aap Ka on Thursday.
“These are those who created mutiny on May 9 and the Jamaat-e-Islami is the party which instead of condemning the events on May 9 had an alliance on May 9. These are those people who want to bring mutiny in this country. We will not leave Karachi in the hands of any rioter. This is their issue. Their elected MNAs and MPAs left them, maybe their conscience was awakened.”
She, who was joined by GDA leader Saira Bano and JI’s Ayesha Syed on the show, was responding to a query pertaining to claims of AML chief Sheikh Rashid and PTI leader that there was a deal in Dubai for UC chairmen. The party also claimed that their town members were also abducted.
Karachi’s local body representatives elected PPP’s Murtaza Wahab as the city’s mayor on Thursday, according to unofficial results. Out of a total of 333 votes, Murtaza secured 173 votes against JI’s Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who got 160 votes.
But the elections were marred by clashes between JI and PPP supporters outside the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi.
When asked about PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s claims, Faruqui replied that the Imran Khan-led party should avoid teaching them about democracy as the PTI leader could not bear incarceration like the PPP leader have done in the past.
“PPP may have won but democracy has lost,” Qureshi tweeted.
“The PPP is a party in which not just party workers but leaders also sacrificed their lives for democracy,” said Faruqui.
She added that it was a matter of the PTI and JI to discuss why their numbers were short on voting day.
In reaction to Faruqui’s criticism, JI’s Syed said that PPP should not talk about democracy as it follows dynastic politics. “In democracy, there is a way for everyone in the party.”
She added that her party condemned the events of May 9 and advised Faruqui to come up with a better argument. “Jamaat-e-Islami has never done politics of abusive language. We have the courage to welcome the mayor.”
Faruqui was of the view that the people voted for the PPP for their performance. It was not PPP’s fault if there was a forward bloc in the PTI, she said and claimed that the rival parties’ intention to approach court would be a “waste of time”. The PPP leader claimed that the PTI leader did not vote for Wahab.
GDA Saira Bano expressed her intention to not talk about the Karachi mayor election, saying that the violent incident in the city was just a “trailer”. She feared that the same things would happen in general elections.
JI’s Ayesha Syed claimed that her party has done a lot for the people of Karachi and raised its voice for the census, education, and local body elections.
Taking a jibe at her fellow participant from PPP, she said that “You have Karachi for 15 years which you destroyed. They started rigging on January 15. Our complaint is not against the leader and workers of PPP but against the accusation made by them.”
GDA’s Bano called for thinking about Karachi as the metropolitan city braces for heavy rains amid the cyclone threat. She spoke about the issues of electricity and the absence of clean drinking water facilities.
