Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman on Sunday said the JI considers PTI founder chairman Imran Khan a political prisoner.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he demanded government provide all necessary healthcare facilities to the jailed leader and former prime minister. To a question regarding PTI Islamabad Long March, he replied the party holds the right to protest under the constitution.
Rehman reiterated caravans from across the country will reach Islamabad on September 20. He warned the government against using any tactics to stop the party’s long march.
The JI leader claimed the PTI, JUI-F, ANP and other opposition parties had already extended their full support to JI’s protest against the petroleum levy.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman thanked opposition leaders, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, for supporting JI’s campaign against the petroleum levy.
Rehman announced that he would address public gatherings in Batkhela and Timergara later on Sunday night. He said JI’s sit-ins were continuing in 36 cities and public participation was increasing with each passing day. He added that major programmes for women had already been held in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Petroleum Levy:
The JI Emir termed the petroleum levy a “bhatta tax” and demanded its complete abolition. The levy, he added, had no connection with the actual price of petrol. The government, he claimed, imposed it as part of a “mafia system” to benefit a handful of people at the expense of the public.
The JI, he said, had presented the government with practical proposals to reduce the burden on the public. He said that reducing the interest rate by three percentage points from the current 11.5 per cent could save the country Rs1,700 billion. The government, he said, was supporting the banking sector. Rehman asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif why interest rates were not being reduced.
He said several components included in the ex-refinery price could be reduced. The JI leader added that the government could continue negotiations if it wanted. But, he maintained, the JI would not accept delaying the matter in the name of talks.
“Jamaat-e-Islami will not withdraw from its demands under any circumstances,” he said.
He also criticised the agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), demanding government make them public. He said that consumers continued to pay capacity charges through their electricity bills regardless of the actual situation.
