Lahore, November 23, 2025: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has said the party will not announce any candidates until the schedule for national elections is issued, declaring that “Kashmir and Palestine are our red lines.”
Addressing the concluding session of the Badal Do Nizam public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan on Sunday, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said Pakistan’s political parties were facing a “crisis of discipline,” whereas in JI “every member is bound to follow the system.”
He criticised policies aimed at “pleasing US President Donald Trump,” saying Pakistan had “suffered immensely by choosing servitude to America.” He reiterated that Pakistan’s foreign policy must remain independent and that “no country, including the US, has the right to exploit others.” Even disagreements with other nations, he said, must be conveyed “with dignity.”
The JI chief said millions had sacrificed their lives for Kashmir.
“Kashmir belongs to Pakistan, and Pakistan belongs to Kashmir. Kashmir and Palestine are our red lines. We cannot abandon the Kashmiris,” he said, adding that a free Palestinian state was the only viable solution to the Palestine conflict. He urged Pakistan’s leadership to “stand firmly with Palestine and take the nation along.”
Reaffirming the party’s decision on election participation, he said JI would not field any candidates until the national poll schedule is announced. The party’s politics, he added, aims to unite the country rather than divide provinces.
Hafiz Naeem also criticised Parliament for “failing to speak on women’s rights.” He said that if empowered, JI would ensure that women receive their full share in inheritance. Under the current contractor system, he added, women remained deprived of basic rights while the ruling elite showed “no concern for public issues.”
He further alleged that the existing political and administrative structure gives respect only to landlords and capitalists. Highlighting governance failures, he noted that local government elections had not taken place in Punjab since 2015. Calls for non-party elections, he said, were merely attempts to promote “horse-trading in every union council.”
