Jamaat-e-Islami Threatens Super Long March if Demands Are Not Met

Speaking to the media in Karachi, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that the party’s protest movement against the petroleum levy, high electricity prices, IPP agreements and inflation is continuing. He said the protest movement had not been ended but only postponed, and warned that if the government failed to accept the people’s demands, a super long march would be launched from Multan. He further said that protest camps had been established across the country, including Karachi, and that a march toward Islamabad would be organized after collecting millions of petitions reflecting public opinion. He said Jamaat-e-Islami had no personal agenda and that its struggle was solely for the rights of the people.

Speaking during a visit to a protest camp established at 5-Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said the people would have to play their full role in freeing the country from various mafias operating in different sectors. He urged Jamaat-e-Islami workers to take petitions door-to-door and to markets, inform people about the problems facing the country, and have them fill out petitions in support of the demands. He said that once the people united for their rights, the rulers would have no choice but to accept their demands.

Repeating the party’s demands, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader said they were calling for the complete abolition of the petroleum levy, a review of what he described as anti-people agreements with IPPs, a reduction in electricity prices, and a reduction in government and elite expenditures instead of placing the burden of inflation on ordinary citizens. He said that when the prime minister of Pakistan returns from his foreign visit, the party would hold a clear discussion with him on these issues. If the demands were accepted, the matter would be resolved; otherwise, the scope of the protests would be expanded and a super long march would be launched from Multan.

Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman thanked the business community, particularly traders in Karachi, for strongly supporting the September 3 strike and raising their voice against public grievances. Criticizing the situation, he said various mafias were active in the country, including the IPP, flour and sugar mafias, as well as vested interests associated with the banking system, while the rulers were protecting one another’s interests. He further said that the current budget had placed a burden of billions of rupees in taxes on the public and that approximately Rs80 per liter was being collected in the name of the levy, which should be abolished immediately.