KARACHI — Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday came down hard on the Sindh government’s recently launched e-challan system, calling it a “drama” designed to extract money from Karachi’s residents rather than fixing the city’s long-neglected transport and infrastructure issues.
Speaking at an event in Karachi, Rehman said the government’s priorities were misplaced, noting that while authorities were issuing hefty traffic fines worth Rs5,000, Rs10,000, and even Rs25,000, the city still lacked a functional public transport system.
“When a challan costs Rs200 in Lahore but Rs5,000 in Karachi, how is it wrong to criticize the PPP?” he questioned, referring to the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has governed Sindh for over 15 years.
The e-challan system officially rolled out last month allows authorities to send traffic fines directly to vehicle owners’ registered addresses. Vehicles with unpaid fines are barred from being sold or transferred. While officials hailed the move as a step toward modernization, many citizens and opposition leaders have raised concerns about errors and unfair penalties.
Citing World Bank figures, the JI chief said Karachi needed around 15,000 buses to meet public demand, yet the provincial government had only managed to introduce around 400. With Karachi’s population officially exceeding 20 million, he said the lack of a proper transport network had forced millions onto motorcycles and rickshaws.
“The entire city is running on motorbikes and Qingqi rickshaws because there’s no large-scale public transport system,” Rehman lamented, adding that the number of motorcycles in the city had now crossed five million.
He accused the PPP of engaging in what he called “qabza siyasat” a politics of control and neglect blaming the ruling party for wasting decades of Karachi’s potential. “The PPP has done nothing for this city in the last 15 years,” he said. “They’ve wasted 30 to 40 years and ruined entire generations.”
Rehman also pointed to stalled or mismanaged mega projects, including the S-III sewerage plan, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), and BRT lines such as the Green, Red, and Orange lines. “The KCR has been inaugurated six to eight times, but it’s still not operational,” he remarked. “The Green Line ends halfway, and the Red Line has destroyed University Road.”
Despite these challenges, the JI chief praised the efforts of his party’s local town leadership, saying they had begun a “new journey” in nine towns with limited resources.
“We said we would work beyond our means, and we are doing that,” Rehman said. “Even though problems like sanitation, sewerage, and garbage collection are the responsibility of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and Mayor Murtaza Wahab, our town chairmen and union council workers are handling them.”
He noted that JI’s local representatives had successfully resolved long-standing sewerage problems in areas like North Nazimabad, connecting drainage lines to the Gujjar Nullah to prevent flooding and improve sanitation.
Rehman concluded by calling on the Sindh government to stop burdening citizens with fines and instead focus on real solutions for Karachi’s broken infrastructure.
