Govt makes first formal contact with JI as sit-in continues in Rawalpindi

• Baloch demands concession in electricity bills, abolishment of taxes.
• JI leader calls on govt to withdraw taxes imposed on salaried class.
• Wants govt to terminate its capacity payment agreement with IPPs.
  

RAWALPINDI: As Jamaat-e-Islami continues to hold a sit-in at Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh, the government has made its first formal contact with the party to hold "serious talks" with them.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has held a telephone conversation with JI Vice Emir Liaquat Baloch to discuss the party's demands as it continues its demonstration against soaring inflation and exorbitant electricity bills.

The party on Friday claimed at least 1,150 of its workers were arrested while trying to march on Islamabad after authorities imposed Section 144 in the federal capital and across Punjab.

The party workers and activists, however, were later released in the day as confirmed by Baloch.

JI, vowing to continue its protest, had since then staged a sit-in in Rawalpindi.

Various arteries within the city also remained blocked, leading to widespread traffic disruptions across the city with the police stressing that they would not allow JI to protest in Islamabad without permission.

In his interaction with Naqvi, the JI vice emir underscored the party's demand seeking abolishment of the "slab system" in electricity bills — which provisions different per-unit rates for users in accordance with their usage — and called for a 50% reduction in electricity bills of people using 500 units of electricity.

Urging the government to terminate its agreement for capacity payment in US dollars with the independent power producers (IPPs), Baloch also called on the Centre to withdraw the taxes imposed on the salaried class.

The JI leader also asked the government to abolish the petroleum levy and take back the recent hike in fuel prices.

Naqvi and the JI's interaction comes after Federal Information Minister Ataullah Tarar underscored Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's administration's willingness to hold talks with the party.

"We are ready to talk for peace, security and development of the country which is the main agenda of our government," Tarar said while speaking at a press conference in the federal capital on Friday.

'Fascism and talks cannot go hand in hand'

Speaking to party workers at the Rawalpindi sit-in today, JI Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman called on the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government to release their activists and withdraw the cases filed against them.

Stressing that if their demands are not met, Naeem said that the party has the option to direct their protest "in any direction".

"Fascism and talks cannot go hand in hand," he said.

Speaking on the issue of negotiations with the government, the JI chief said that the party has reservations about the names that have come from the government side.

Revealing that the party has empowered Liaquat Baloch to hold talks, Naeem noted that he would announce the JI's negotiation committee once the government announces its own and their reservations regarding the names proposed by the other side are addressed.

He also announced to hold a public rally at the city’s Murree Road tomorrow evening which will be followed by a women's gathering on Monday.