JI chief announces November 29 rally at Minar-e-Pakistan

Lahore: Nov 11: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Wednesday announced a series of major public gatherings across the country, including a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on November 29, as part of the JI’s campaign against inflation, farmers’ problems and the delay in local government elections.

Addressing a press conference at Mansoorah, the Rehman said the JI would hold a public gathering in Quetta on November 22, followed by a major rally at Minar-e-Pakistan. Similar gatherings would subsequently be organised in Peshawar and Karachi, he added. Acting Secretary General Nazir Ahmad Janjua, Deputy Secretary Waqas Anjum Jafri, Central Punjab Emir Javed Kasuri and Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari were also present.

Rehman said the JI had decided to broaden its ongoing protest movement to include rising prices of petroleum products, gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), farmers’ difficulties and the government's failure to hold local government elections.

On the petroleum levy issue, he said a joint technical team comprising government and JI representatives had prepared a draft agreement. The government would review the proposed agreement before announcing relief measures for the public.He said the JI's protest had helped prevent further excessive increases in petrol prices and secured relief for motorcycle owners and owners of vehicles with engines below 1,000cc. The campaign had also raised public awareness about the petroleum levy, he added.

However, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said the JI had asked the government to extend the existing relief package to owners of vehicles with engines up to 1,300cc, agricultural machinery using diesel and public transport.

He made it clear that the JI had not withdrawn its demand for the abolition of the petroleum levy, while the government was seeking time until the next budget.

"We will decide our future course of action after the final agreement," he said, adding that the JI would continue its peaceful struggle for public rights.

The JI leader said no other political party was seriously raising issues affecting ordinary citizens, adding that political movements should not resort to violence or take up batons. The JI campaign, he said, was organised and peaceful.

Highlighting the economic difficulties facing the public, the JI chief said LPG prices had crossed Rs500 per kilogram, while electricity and gas tariffs remained excessively high. He said oil refineries were making huge profits from petroleum products.

He criticised the Punjab government led by Maryam Nawaz over the deteriorating situation in agriculture, saying small farmers were bearing the brunt of government policies.

The price of a 50kg bag of DAP fertiliser had exceeded Rs17,000, while urea was not readily available in the market, he said. Flour prices had reached Rs8,000 per 40kg, whereas farmers had sold wheat for less than Rs3,500 per 40kg. The price had now climbed to around Rs5,500 per 40kg, he added.

Rehman said the area under cotton cultivation had declined by 60 per cent over the past decade, with sugarcane increasingly replacing cotton in traditional cotton-growing areas.

Farmers were also not receiving a fair price for sugarcane, while there were indications that sugar mills might not begin crushing by the November 15 deadline, he said.

He said that a few influential political families owned nearly 75 per cent of the country's sugar mills and that various mafias operating within governments benefited from creating and exploiting shortages and market distortions.

On local government elections, the JI Emir said his party had approached the courts against the failure to hold polls and the amendments introduced in Punjab's local government law.

Describing the existing Punjab Local Government Act as anti-democratic, he said the JI had rejected the legislation and demanded amendments to ensure timely elections and effective local representation.

Rehman said the JI was raising the voice of Pakistan's 250 million people and demanded that the government pass on the benefit of declining international petroleum prices to consumers while curbing excessive profits made by oil refineries. He also urged the rulers to reduce their own privileges and luxuries, as well as those enjoyed by the bureaucracy, instead of placing the burden of economic difficulties on the public.