KARACHI: Central Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has said that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was the pride and a strategic national asset of the country, and selling off such a national institution due to the government’s failure to manage it was a “matter of shame”. He expressed these views while addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI Karachi headquarters, on Friday. He said the private sector should be supported, traders facilitated and economic growth encouraged, but disposing of national institutions because successive governments failed to run them reflected incompetence and poor governance. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said PIA had been a profitable airline in the past and had even supported international carriers, including those of China, Saudi Arabia and Malta. He held successive governments — the PML-N, PPP, PML-Q and PTI — responsible for ruining the national flag carrier over the last three to four decades. He said political interference, corruption, fake appointments and mismanagement, including the appointment of certain individuals from security backgrounds, turned PIA into a loss-making entity. Despite this, he added, the airline was sold without holding those responsible accountable. The JI chief pointed out that PIA was split into two entities, with most losses shifted to PIA Holdings, while the operational company reportedly earned around Rs10 billion in profit during the January–June six-month period. “We have no issue with the bidders; our objection is to the government’s mismanagement,” he said. He pointed out that a second-hand Airbus A320 costs roughly Rs10 billion, yet the government sold the entire airline for nearly the same amount. He termed the Rs135 billion figure misleading, saying more than 90 percent of the amount was meant for reinvestment by the private buyer into its own airline and had no benefit for the national exchequer. He said the same applied to Boeing aircraft and highlighted that PIA holds 78 landing rights worldwide, including in Europe. “The assets and goodwill of PIA were far greater than the price at which the national flag carrier was sold,” he said. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also questioned the role and legal status of the Fauji Foundation, asking whether it was a private entity, a public limited company, or part of a state institution. He said that handing over one state-owned company to another could not be termed privatization. “If this is the case, where is privatization?” he asked, demanding answers from the government. Referring to governance failures, he said members of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) were holding press conferences to seek protection from extortionists, which reflected the deteriorating law-and-order situation. He said institutions were first destroyed through corruption and mismanagement and then their privatisation was presented as an achievement. He further said the nation must rid itself of what he described as “gangs imposed through Form-47.” On international issues, he said Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement 62 times in the past 72 days and expressed concern over reports of forming an international force to disarm Hamas in Gaza. He recalled that “it was once a matter of pride that Pakistani soldiers and pilots had downed Israeli warplanes, but now there were reports that the same armed forces might be deployed against Hamas and Palestinian freedom fighters.” He termed such a move totally unacceptable and demanded that the armed forces clearly state their position on whether they were willing to disarm Hamas in support of Israel. He also highlighted Israeli war crimes in Gaza and said Israel enjoyed overwhelming support from former US President Donald Trump during what he termed the genocide. He urged the public to raise their voices on social media against any proposed support for Israel. The JI chief strongly condemned attacks on Christians in India and Palestine during Christmas celebrations. Concluding his address, he demanded immediate improvement in law and order in Sindh, particularly in riverine and adjoining areas, citing incidents of killings, extortion and abductions. He said Karachi, the country’s economic hub, continued to suffer from decaying infrastructure and multiple crises, and questioned the role of the establishment in imposing rejected politicians on the city and its residents. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025