LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued notices to the Inspector General of Police Punjab and the Deputy Commissioner Lahore on a petition challenging the Jamaat-e-Islami sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly, seeking a detailed report at the next hearing, even as the protest at Faisal Chowk completed its 23rd day and kept a large section of The Mall closed to traffic.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad heard the petition filed by a Lahore resident, Naseem Akhtar, who submitted that citizens were facing severe hardship because of the party’s sit-in on The Mall. Additional Advocate General Chaudhry Tanveer Akhtar appeared on behalf of the Punjab government.
During the proceedings, Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad observed that the sit-in on The Mall was creating major difficulties and that people were taking a considerable amount of time to reach their destinations. The court asked counsel for the petitioner whom notices should be issued to, and the lawyer requested that the IG Punjab and the Deputy Commissioner Lahore be placed on notice.
After hearing preliminary arguments, the court issued notices to both officials and called for a detailed report on the next date of hearing. The petitioner has prayed that traffic on The Mall be restored and that an order be passed for the removal of illegal obstructions from the road.
The sit-in continued at Faisal Chowk for a 23rd consecutive day, with Faisal Chowk and a large part of The Mall shut to vehicular traffic. The closure has disrupted the flow of traffic on The Mall and other main arteries of the city, and has increased pressure on alternative routes, where traffic has slowed at several points. Jamaat-e-Islami has announced that the protest will continue until its demands are accepted.
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said the model of sit-ins was not about causing pain to the public and that his party’s protest was not in favour of creating difficulties for citizens.
Turning to the party’s economic demands, he said a forensic audit of the Independent Power Producers would expose the corruption of political parties. He called for a review of the perks and pensions of the elite and of judges, noting that 2.4 million cases remain pending in the country even as those benefits continue. The expenses of the bureaucracy and of judges’ families, including shopping bills, he said, are being borne by the ordinary motorcyclist, adding that the same levy is being imposed on a billionaire using an expensive car and on a common man using a motorcycle.
Criticising the banking system, the JI chief said a cut of just one percent in the interest rate would save billions of rupees. Banks, he said, were engaged in plunder and earning profits of up to Rs50 billion a month, arguing that the present banking structure was built to loot the nation, while Rs8,000 billion goes towards interest payments rather than principal.
On the question of provinces, he said the Constitution already provides a procedure, but the problem is that the government has yet to bring forward a clear proposal. The better solution, he said, lies in negotiations and the government should settle matters through dialogue, adding that support for provincial rights exists among the public because provinces are treated unfairly.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said a meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami’s technical committee with the government was scheduled, and that those included in the government committee would have to deliver relief. If the party moves towards a wheel-jam strike, he warned, everything would be shut down. He said the option of a long march on Islamabad also remains available, and that a train march could be announced before any long march.
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