Karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Ameer Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has warned the government of a 'long march' after the holy month of Ramzan against hiked tariff of electricity, inflation and bad governance.

The JI supremo, currently visiting Karachi, announced this at a press conference held at Idara Noor-e-haq - the JI Karachi headquarters, here on Friday. He was flanked by JI leaders, including Monem Zafar, Saifuddin Advocate, MPA Muhammad Farooq, Raja Arif Sultan, Muslim Pervez and Zahid Askari.

Speaking on the occasion, he lambasted the government over controversial PECA Ordinance amendments and indiscriminate expenditure of taxpayers' money on advertisement and publicity through the media. He said that any attempt to clamp the voice of dissent by the government would backfire.

Talking about the inflation, he said that the bubble of claims by the government in this regard was busted at grocery stores. Flour, pulses, ghee, oil, sugar - in short every edible item in the market is inching out of the reach of the poor, he added.

The ruling regime and its ministers were trying to mislead the masses as they after initial claims they had to clarify when pressed that the ratio of inflation increase had decreased, he said, adding that it simply means that the speed of inflation has decreased and the prices of essential items were still increasing but on a different pace. It doesn't mean that the prices are reversing, it means that prices are increasing comparatively on a slower pace, he elaborated.

During the past seven month, Rs285 billion were submitted under the category of income tax by the salaried class, what about the landlords, he asked. The JI doesn't want the government to further press the small scale farmers but to catch the big fishes - which they don't, he added.

He further said that the ministers always bragged about the stock exchange which itself ran under a cycle of boom and bust but they never talk about the expansion of local industry and about Information Technology based exports. He said that the poor class in the country had already been destroyed, the shrink middle class was on the verge of collapse, whereas the government was indifferent when it comes to the common man.

Talking about the division within the judiciary and other judicial crises, he said that all the political parties who played role to pass the 26th Constitutional Amendment had committed a national crime. He condemned the fake parliament over this act.He condemned the recent unnecessary increase in the size of the federal cabinet and dubbed it burden on the nation.

On the occasion, the JI leader also highlighted the woes of Karachi and said that the mega city was taken for granted by all the ruling parties. He added that the city provides the lion's share in the revenue for both the province and the center and yet, it was deprived of basic necessities, including water and sewerage facilities.

He further said that the K4 water supply project was in limbo for the past 17 years. He also questioned the fate of the Karachi Circular Railway project, the Green Line Project, the S3 sewerage project among others.

Talking about the transport sector, he said that a mega city like Karachi needs 15,000 to 17,000 busses, whereas the Pakistan People Party government could only manage some 300 busses in total during the past 17 consecutive years. The Red Line Project is also full of flaws, he said, adding that the PPP government in Sindh was a merger of corruption and incompetency.

He also highlighted the issue of killing in Karachi by heavy traffic during the day time. He also addressed the issues being faced by the students in Karachi enrolled with the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi (BIEK) and other educational boards.

In this backdrop, a huge momentum of protest is needed, so the Karachi chapter of the JI will be taking out a million march against the PPP government in Sindh after the Eidul Fitar, he said. The JI leader further lambasted the PPP government for laying off 1370 employees from the Pakistan Steel Mills just ahead of the holy month of Ramzan.

Talking about the renewed agitation, he said that the JI might appeal people to hold sit-ins at important arteries across the country in the first phase while in the second and third phase, the party might cordon off the governor and chief minister houses across the country respectively, whereas in the final segment - the party might call for a long march in the country. All the options are open and under consideration, he said.