Whenever any complaint comes to light, immediate action is taken,” he says. “And for the JI’s digital media team, I can say for a fact that that is not true.
“The Jamaat has a very organized system when it comes to social media, extending right from the party’s centre to the provincial, district and tehsil-level leadership.”Īre the accusations against JI digital team members true that they abuse political opponents on social media and consider themselves better Muslims than others? “My day begins and ends with social media,” he says. He joined the right-wing party in 2004 and has since then served as the media secretary to former JI heads Munawar Hassan and Qazi Hussain Ahmed.
Shamsuddin, a journalist by profession, has been leading the digital media team of the Jamaat-e-Islami since 2012. “We may be small in size and short of funds, but our vision is strong.” “We do not gain from dividing Shias and Sunnis or Sindhis and Mohajirs,” he explains. Rather, he says the party focuses on uniting the masses. Nadir says the PSP, unlike other political parties, does not seek to create divisions based on caste, creed, culture or religion. However, they got fed up of the PTI’s dirty politics and have hence decided to join the PSP.” “They joined the PTI and fell for Khan sahab’s golden promises. “The youth from the PTI are joining our ranks,” he says. Nadir says recently, the PTI’s social media team lead from Gujranwala joined the PSP. “He has no time for fun or entertainment,” replies Nadir. When asked whether Mustafa Kamal follows any YouTubers and if he does, who are his favourites? “And why wouldn’t he? Kamal represents millions of people.” “He is a blunt man hence he doesn’t bite his tongue for anyone,” says Nadir. He also says he hasn’t seen a more straightforward person than Kamal. Mustafa Kamal feeds sweets to Nadir Qureshi. If we get even a small ATM, we can tackle other political parties on social media in a more enhanced manner,” he says. PSP, according to him, is most active on Facebook and Twitter because the former “connects with the masses” while the latter is for “the news-based, informed audience”.Īccording to Nadir, the main challenges that come with leading the PSP’s digital media have all to do with funding.
He says the PSP is the only political party in Pakistan that shares even corner meetings of the party on its social media pages and even updates its base on union council meetings. “My core responsibility includes ensuring our hashtags are trending on social media, updating Mustafa Kamal and Anees Qaimkhani’s social media pages and ensuring that our narrative reaches our popular base,” he adds. Around noon is when he starts off with his voluntary work. Running PSP’s digital media team is a tough task for Nadir, who looks after his clientele early morning after Fajr prayers. PSP chief Syed Mustafa Kamal with Nadir Qureshi. “I was handed the responsibility to galvanise the party’s digital media presence after it lost in General Elections 2018.”
“Any citizen of Karachi who has some civic sense was witness to the city’s destruction after Mustafa Kamal’s era as mayor ended,” says Nadir. Kamal’s return to Karachi in 2016 and the explosive press conference against MQM founder Altaf Hussain, was enough to inspire Nadir Qureshi, founder of the online business company N2N solutions, to join his ranks. However, the party, led by ex-mayor of Karachi and MQM dissident, Syed Mustafa Kamal, wants to take great strides on social media.
Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) may not have yet gained a foothold in Karachi’s constituencies. We spoke to digital team leads of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Jamat-e-Islami (JI) to see where each party stands as far as their social media teams are concerned. The metropolis' complex politics and demography has birthed a number of political parties over the years, with each claiming its own dominion over the city. Karachi has been home to various political parties and mass movements against governments over the past seven six decades.