LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has announced a nationwide shutter-down strike after 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal over the petroleum levy issue.
Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem said the party’s campaign was progressing well and the government would have to reduce petroleum product prices.
He said the country could not progress in the presence of flour and sugar mafias, while farmers were unable to obtain fertiliser at affordable prices. He also criticised government officials for using expensive vehicles purchased with public money.
Hafiz Naeem said the Jamaat-e-Islami would hold a nationwide shutter-down strike after 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal. He made it clear that future negotiations would not be conducted on the basis of assurances that the protests would end in return for promises.
“The sit-ins will end only when the government practically accepts our demands,” he said.
He added that the party was holding its sit-ins according to schedule and that women had expressed their lack of confidence in government policies the previous day.
Hafiz Naeem further said that even during wartime, the rulers had imposed a “petrol bomb” on the people. He alleged that mafias, in collaboration with the government, had imported 765,000 tonnes of sugar.
The Jamaat-e-Islami has been holding sit-ins outside governors’ houses across the country against the petroleum levy. The protests entered their eighth consecutive day on Sunday.
