LAHORE (National Times) The Jamaat-e-Islami has decided to stage a sit-in outside the Punjab CM House to protest against inflated electricity bills.
JI Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari announced that the protest and sit-in in Lahore was being organised on the call of JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
The protest would be transformed into a public gathering against hike in electricity bills.
He advised the provincial administration to cooperate with them in their constitutional right to protest instead of creating obstacles for the party.
The JI Lahore emir suggested the Punjab government and IGP to arrange security measures and devise traffic plan for a peaceful protest.
Ziauddin revealed that the party had sent a written application to the administration for the protest. The party stressed that it would keep making rulers accountable until the public got relief.
He said JI Emir Hafiz Naeem had postponed Islamabad’s sit-in and not cancelled it, giving the rulers a deadline to meet demands.
Ziauddin asserted that there would be no deal with anyone and no injustice would be done to the public.
He berated the government, saying they made fake promises of providing free 300 units of electricity after taking over the government.
JI SIT-IN IN RAWALPINDI AND DEMANDS
It is pertinent to note that the JI staged a sit-in at Rawalpindi’s Liaquatabad for 15 days.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said they had achieved the targets through its historical sit-in staged in Rawalpindi against the exorbitant electricity bills.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, he said the JI gave some time to the government to reconsider its policies pertaining to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). He urged the government to cut its expenditure in order to avoid the JI’s sit-in in future.
Hafiz Naeem added that the JI raised awareness among the people over the issues of exorbitant electricity bills and IPPs.
“The joint committee of JI and government will review the electricity bills within a month,” he said.
Earlier, the government and JI reached an ‘agreement’ pertaining to relief for the masses in electricity bills, reduction in taxes for the salaried class and reviewing the IPPs contracts.
The JI had staged a sit-in for its demands. Several rounds of talks between the government and the JI took place and on Thursday last, their negotiations concluded with the formation of a taskforce to resolve issues.
