PM Shehbaz Sharif Urges Jamaat-e-Islami to Suspend Long March
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rahman to suspend the long march towards the capital Islamabad against the petroleum levy.
At the same time, he proposed holding meaningful discussions with Jamaat-e-Islami over the fuel tax. However, the party’s ameer has said that even if the long march is suspended, Jamaat-e-Islami will not give up its right to protest.
Pakistani newspaper The News International, quoting a spokesperson for Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, reported the matter. According to the report, Shehbaz called Hafiz Naeem after the Jamaat chief reached Multan as part of the march towards Islamabad. During the call, he requested him to suspend the march towards the capital.
In response, Hafiz Naeem told Prime Minister Shehbaz that it was not Jamaat-e-Islami’s intention to push the government into a situation of deteriorating law and order or conflict. However, he said they had taken to the streets to raise various problems faced by the people, and the government must respect their right to protest.
The Jamaat chief also said that before making a decision on the prime minister’s request, the matter would be discussed with the party’s central decision-making council, the Shura. He said that even if the march were suspended at the government’s request, Jamaat-e-Islami would not give up its right to protest.
Pakistani media reported that Jamaat-e-Islami’s train march, led by Hafiz Naeem against the petroleum levy, reached Multan late Monday night (September 21). The Jamaat chief addressed supporters at the railway station there.
He said the train reached Multan four hours late. However, the delay did not prevent supporters from coming out to welcome the march. Hafiz Naeem said, “Those who conspired should see how many people came out to welcome us in Multan.”
He claimed that people in various cities and localities of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were similarly welcoming the Jamaat’s march. He said the march would now pass through southern Punjab before moving towards central Punjab.
Addressing the government, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief said the march could not be stopped by placing containers on the roads and creating obstacles. He demanded the withdrawal of the so-called “extortion tax” included in the petroleum levy and called for relief for the people.
The Jamaat chief said they were raising the problems faced by poor and middle-class people. He alleged that political parties were not giving adequate importance to the problems of ordinary people. He cited rising prices of wheat, flour and sugar as examples of the economic pressure on consumers.
Hafiz Naeem alleged that flour and sugar traders had influence among political parties. He also criticised what he described as inconsistencies in the government’s policies regarding sugar imports and exports.
He also referred to Jamaat-e-Islami’s previous movement over the government’s agreements with independent power producers. The Jamaat chief claimed that the party had also raised the interests of the people in that case.
According to the media, Jamaat-e-Islami began its long march against the petroleum levy from Karachi last Sunday. The movement has since been taken towards Islamabad through various programmes by train and road.
The party has also recently held protests in different cities across the country. Earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami held several rounds of discussions with the federal government over its demands.
Meanwhile, after reaching Multan, the Jamaat convoy is scheduled to head towards Lahore. The party’s leaders and workers will then move towards Islamabad in the final stage of the long march.
