Punjab failed to protect women despite female CM: JI emir

LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman criticized the Punjab government's failure to protect women and provide essential services, as inflation has left households struggling to afford basic necessities. In a speech at a women's gathering at the JI sit-in outside the CM House on The Mall, he highlighted the burden inflation has placed on families, with mothers cutting back on their own needs to pay for their children's education.

Rehman pointed out that Punjab had seen over 4,500 rape cases in the previous year, but only four out of every thousand accused were convicted. He also revealed that around eight million girls were out of school in the province, with girls making up around 60% of the out-of-school population compared to 40% of boys. The emir denounced the outsourcing of 11,000 girls' schools and criticized the government's failure to properly determine minimum wages for millions of women workers in Punjab's factories and agricultural fields.

Rehman claimed that Pakistan had 85 million workers, including nearly 30 million women, yet many qualified doctors faced difficulties finding decent employment. He emphasized that the JI protest would persist until the government withdrew the petroleum levy and warned of a possible nationwide shutdown strike and long march if the demands were not met.

The JI emir linked the economic hardships to rising poverty, stating that over 40% of Pakistanis lived below the poverty line, with a 33% increase nationally and a 41% increase in Punjab over the past six years. Addressing Chief Minister Maryam directly, Rehman urged the Punjab government to address people's problems rather than engage in "showpiece measures."

The meeting also featured speeches from the Acting Secretary General of JI's Women's Wing, Sameena Saeed, Deputy Secretary Sameeha Raziq Qazi, Central Punjab Women's Wing chief Nazia Tauheed, North Punjab chief Samina Ehsan, and Lahore chief Uzma Imran.