LAHORE (Dunya News) – Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has claimed that around 8 million girls in Punjab are not attending school, accusing the government of depriving girls of their basic right to education.
Addressing participants of a sit-in in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem criticized the government, saying millions of girls across Punjab remain out of school while thousands of girls’ schools have been outsourced.
He said Punjab’s literacy rate was no more than 70%, leaving a large number of men and women without access to education. He added that women were working alongside men in every field, but their basic rights continued to be neglected.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader alleged that the government had taken away girls’ fundamental right to education and said even female medical graduates were not receiving their full share of house-job opportunities.
Hafiz Naeem also accused the government of failing to ensure peace, safe transportation and basic facilities, saying only a few cosmetic measures were being presented to the public.
He said inflation had created severe financial pressures for women, with mothers forced to sacrifice their own needs to pay their children’s school fees while many households could no longer afford basic necessities.
Expressing concern over the healthcare sector, Hafiz Naeem said the government was attempting to evade responsibility for basic health centres. He added that doctors who raised their voices for their rights risked losing their jobs, while the government had little to offer them.
He said Pakistan had around 85 million workers, including nearly 30 million women. Women were working in factories and agricultural fields, he added, but no minimum wage had been fixed for around 40 million women in Punjab.
Hafiz Naeem claimed that more than 40% of the population was living below the poverty line, alleging that poverty across Pakistan had increased by 33% over the past six years and by 41% in Punjab.
He blamed the policies of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and those who brought them to power for worsening economic hardships faced by the public.
Criticizing the ruling elite, Hafiz Naeem said rulers lived on public money while electricity charges and levies were being imposed on ordinary citizens. He warned that society could not progress under such policies and urged the government to abandon its “stubbornness” and address public grievances.
He said poor children had the same right to education as the children of the ruling elite, while ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women was the state’s responsibility.
Hafiz Naeem added that a large number of women were participating in protests amid rising inflation and worsening economic difficulties.