ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday warned that the party would launch a nationwide wheel-jam strike if the government delayed approving public demands for economic relief.
The development came two days after a countrywide protest, during which six party workers were arrested for allegedly burning motorcycles and tyres in Karachi. The JI has distanced itself from these elements.
On the same day, Rehman, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah announced that the JI and federal government would form committees to recommend measures for reducing the petroleum levy and providing relief to the public.
Addressing a news conference in the federal capital alongside JI Deputy Chief Mian Muhammad Aslam and Islamabad Amir Nasrullah Randhawa, Rehman said formal negotiations with the government would begin on Monday, while sit-in protests across the country would continue simultaneously.
He also criticised the current administration and bureaucracy, describing them as an unconstitutional “Form-47 arrangement” that was passing the burden of its inefficiency and extravagance on to the public through heavy taxation.
