RAWALPINDI – Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman urged government to shows seriousness for talks on demands including relief on inflated power bills and lowering prices of basic commodities.
Naeem, who flocked to capital with thousands of protesters, issued a warning to the government, saying if their demands are not fulfilled and negotiations remain at a standstill, the ongoing sit-in will escalate to the parliament’s doors, potentially overthrowing what he termed as puppet government.
Addressing the protesters, he said participants are making history with this sit-in, which aims to improve public conditions.
“Should government fail to take our demands seriously and neglect to regulate Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to provide relief to the public, the sit-in will progress to D-Chowk and the parliament’s doors. We will then remove this fake government,” he said.
JI chief was of view that these IPPs are draining the people’s resources, and this sit-in is raising awareness against them. People across Pakistan are looking to us with hope,” he said.
He further slammed government’s attempts to obstruct the sit-in and provoke clashes between JI workers and police officers. “We thwarted their plan because even the police cannot afford their electricity bills now,” he noted.
