JI ready for month-long sit-in if demands not met, warns Hafiz Naeem

• Politico-religious party puts forward 10 conditions to end sit-in.
• Interior minister, govt officials contacted JI to hold talks: Baloch.
• Hafiz Naeem demands immediate release of JI workers.

RAWALPINDI: Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has warned that his party's anti-inflation sit-in in Rawalpindi can last for a month if the government did not pay heed to the demands that included slashing the electricity prices.

“Our sit-in is not of two or three days but can last for a month,” the JI chief said while addressing the sit-in participants at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.

A day earlier, the JI activists from across the country converged on Islamabad to stage a sit-in, however, after being denied permission to hold demonstration in the federal capital’s D-Chowk area the party moved its sit-in to Rawalpindi.

The politico-religious party has put forward 10 conditions for ending its protest sit-in staged against inflation including massive hike in electricity tariffs as it formed a committee to hold talks with the government.

The JI emir announced that the sit-in would be staged at the parliament's door if the incumbent government showed non-seriousness in fulfilling the demands.

JI Naib Emir Liaqat Baloch, addressing the participants of the sit-in, confirmed that the leadership has been contacted by the interior minister and other personalities from the federal government to hold dialogue.

Baloch said that the JI emir welcomed the dialogue offer from the government’s side and demanded the immediate release of the arrested workers. “We have prepared our demands with the help of experts,” added the politico.

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.