JI to hold Islamabad march in mid-November, says Hafiz Naeem

ISLAMABAD – Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has announced that his party will hold a long march to Islamabad in mid-November.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad after meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the JI chief said the party would no longer postpone the march. He said the government should put in place a mechanism to abolish the levy before the march, adding that the burden of the levy is being borne by the middle class and the poor.

He said it had been agreed that relief on petroleum products would be increased. “We say abolish the levy, they say they will give relief in phases. We will talk to the government further, but the march will take place in mid-November. The government has asked for another seven to ten days,” he said.

Hafiz Naeem said the government should announce a package before the march begins. The levy, which he described as extortion, must end, he said, adding that the relief package is not benefiting the public much.

He added that it might be necessary to sit down and talk on the road. “We want relief in the petrol price, and we also want the levy abolished,” he said.

Hafiz Naeem asked whether the government would have given this relief on petrol had Jamaat-e-Islami not protested. “They were going to raise the Rs80 levy to Rs160. When we protested, they backed down. Our pressure on the government is there, and we will increase it. We want people to get relief and the levy to be abolished as well. Had Jamaat-e-Islami not protested, there would have been no relief package either,” he said.

He said talks are always held with whoever is in government, whether it is a “Form 47” or “Form 48” government. “If a hijacker takes over a plane, you have to talk to him,” he remarked.