LAHORE: Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq has announced protest rallies against inflation, demanding subsidy on essential items in the budget.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, he expressed doubt about the continuation of dialogue among political parties on elections after the arrest of PTI chairman Imran Khan. He said the JI has a clear stance that the political victimization in the name of accountability was unjustified and unfair. The JI, he said, demanded across-the-board accountability.

The NAB, he said, had already lost credibility and there was dire need for not repeating the past mistakes of targeting people or political leaders without any credible proof of corruption or malpractices.

The anti-inflation movement would start from May 21 from Lahore, he said, adding the JI workers would hold protest demonstrations in Peshawar on May 24. The detailed schedule for the countrywide rallies would be issued in the next couple of days, he said.

Haq demanded the government to announce Rs100 per litre cut in petrol price and 50 percent decrease in medicine prices. The government was asked not to fill the top vacancies with the retired officers from military or civil bureaucracy rather fresh blood should be inducted to serve the country. He said the government should cut all the non-development expenditure, discourage VIP protocol culture and bring back the money stashed in foreign accounts.

The JI chief condemned the violence and torture on the JI workers during Karachi by-election for local bodies, holding the PPP responsible for bringing hooligans from outside of Karachi at polling stations. He said the Election Commission failed to ensure its responsibility to hold free and peaceful elections.

He also questioned the non-arrest of those elements who were involved in violence during the polling process, vowing to defend the JI mandate.

He said the PPP proved that it was not ready to accept the people’s mandate. Such tactics, he said, in the past caused the derailment of democracy, creating irreparable loss to the country. He thanked the people of Karachi for putting trust on the JI and congratulated the JI team on success.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023