LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has ended its sit-in on Lahore’s Mall Road after 33 days so it can prepare for its long march to Islamabad on September 20. JI Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said the party would stand firm until the levy on petrol is abolished, and called the Prime Minister’s petrol relief package “another drama.”
According to the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore Ziauddin Ansari, the sit-in “has now transformed into a movement.” Starting on Saturday (tomorrow), the party will run an awareness campaign across the city for the long march, with rallies in various neighbourhoods.
The Lahore Emir said JI workers will do outreach in markets and hold meetings with the traders’ community. JI Lahore added that its public contact campaign will be expanded further as preparations continue. The protest campaign has been building for weeks, including a nationwide strike call for September 3.
Separately, JI Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman met the party’s beat reporters on Canal Road, where they discussed preparations for the September 20 Islamabad march. In informal remarks, he said the party would “stand firm for the people” until the levy on petrol is abolished. He said JI has not yet decided which city the long march will start from, and described the party’s meeting later that day as “very important” for the march. The party had earlier rejected the government’s request for more time for negotiations before committing to the march.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman called the Prime Minister’s petrol relief package “another drama.” He also said the party would review the sit-in issue if the petroleum levy were reduced. Earlier, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif announced that Rs100-per-litre relief scheme for bikes, rickshaws and 800cc cars and JI’s rejection of that relief.
The decision comes after four rounds of talks between JI and the federal government failed to produce an agreement on the levy. The talks began on September 7. JI’s delegation was led by Deputy Emir Liaqat Baloch, and the government team was headed by Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal. JI has said government negotiators cited International Monetary Fund (IMF) commitments as the reason the levy cannot be abolished. The party has also rejected the Prime Minister’s Rs100-per-litre relief package as no substitute for removing the levy.
On a separate question, the JI chief said he supports creating new provinces but that the necessary infrastructure would have to be considered first. The beat reporters at the meeting included Abubakar Sheikh, Ulfat Mughal, Adnan Sheikh, Muhammad Asif, Arsalan Rafiq Bhatti, Mian Shahid, Mian Shoaib, Asim Badar, and Muhammad Qasim.
Leave a Reply