Pakistan: Jamaat-e-Islami granted conditional permission to continue sit-in for 2 to 3 days
Jul 26, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 27 : Following the police crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) supporters during a sit-in at D-Chowk in Islamabad, the district administration allowed the party to hold a sit-in on Murree Road for two or three days after holding negotiations, reported ARY News.
The administration allowed the party to hold a sit-in without blocking traffic as Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner and CPO Rawalpindi held a meeting with the JI leadership.
The JI also shifted its two sit-ins at different places of Islamabad to Murree Road, where Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the party chief, will address the participants.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman will also take supporters into confidence in the talks with the administration, ARY News reported.
The party announced the protest against the hike in power tariffs, inflated electricity bills and other burning issues.
However, earlier in the day, the Islamabad police asked the JI supporters to vacate the D-Chowk where the sit-in was originally called.
Minister for Information Att Tarar asked the leadership to hold dialogue with the government after the arrests of several JI supporters, according to ARY News.
The government called on the leadership of JI to come forward for a dialogue, where a three-member committee will be there to address their issues.
He said the government has constituted a three-member committee comprising him, Amir Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to negotiate with the Jamat-e-Islami leadership.
JI spokesperson Qaiser Sharif has claimed that their 500 workers who were heading to Islamabad were arrested during the sit-in, terming it the 'worst example of police terrorism'.
Qaiser Sharif, in his statement, said that police raided the homes of office-bearers and workers, 'desecrating' the ones' privacy by making videos of their homes.
He said that police arrested even the guests from workers' homes at various locations, adding that around 500 workers have been arrested by police, as reported by ARY News.
