Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has turned the Punjab government’s anti-encroachment drive back on the ruling elite, dubbing the Punjab CM House itself “encroached” and questioning Maryam Nawaz’s presence there.
Referring to the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA) and bureaucracy-led operations against encroachments and street vendors in Lahore, he said government officials, sitting in air-conditioned vehicles paid for by taxpayers, issue orders to remove the carts and stalls of poor vendors while ignoring a far bigger encroachment.
“Those who came to power on Form 47 have occupied government buildings like Governor Houses and CM Houses,” he said while addressing a press conference at the JI sit-in outside the Punjab CM House.
“Don’t you think Punjab CM herself held encroached property of CM House as she failed to win her seat in general elections?” he asked, referring to the election mandate.
The outspoken JI chief said the “PERA of Public” would now move against such occupants through public resistance.
His remarks came as JI continued its campaign against the petroleum levy. He also took aim at Punjab CM over the reported purchase of an aircraft costing around Rs11 billion. Rehman called such spending unacceptable while the province faces serious economic and social problems.
JI Emir Press Conference:
On Thursday night, Rehman announced that JI would hold a nationwide strike on September 3. He warned that the protest movement would escalate into an Islamabad long march.
“The government must provide relief to the people and abolish the petroleum levy. Our movement is not going to stop now,” he said.
Rehman said the protest campaign was spreading beyond Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. “JI is organising protest camps across Punjab and in parts of Sindh.”
The JI chief announced that a major public gathering would be held in Faisalabad on Friday. “A public meeting in Rawalpindi on August 30. The Peshawar sit-in would be turned into a public gathering on August 31. Karachi protest would also culminate in a large public meeting. Public gathering would also be held in Swat.” JI, he said, would also launch a sit-in in Quetta on Saturday.
He said committees had already been formed to make the September 3 strike successful. JI, he said, would engage with traders and industrialists to mobilise support.
“We will continue the sit-in movement after the strike and then move towards Islamabad.”
IPPs Agreements and Loadshedding:
Rehman questioned why people continued to face prolonged load-shedding.
“The people are paying billions of rupees to IPPs in capacity payments.” Yet, he said, load-shedding remains at its peak. He demanded that Prime Minister explain why electricity shortages persisted. The country, he said, has sufficient generation capacity.
He also questioned the performance of power distribution companies, saying they continued to collect billions of rupees from consumers while failing to provide reliable electricity.
Rehman accused the Pakistan People’ s Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement of collectively contributing to what he described as the deterioration of the country’s governance system.
PIMS Tragedy:
Referring to the incident at PIMS Hospital, he blamed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government and questioned the suspension of a hospital secretary without what he described as a proper investigation.
“If there was no investigation, why was the secretary suspended?” he asked, demanding that responsibility for the incident be determined through a transparent inquiry rather than what he called a symbolic administrative action.
