Jamaat-e-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has rejected the government claim that the agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) canot be renegotiated and said that in the past the state successfully renegotiated agreements over the Reko Diq project and signed out-of-court deals with the relevant parties.
Speaking a press conference at the sit-in outside Sindh Governor House on Monday, Rehman questioned why the government does not do the same thing in the case of the IPPs. Immediate relief can be provided to people if mismanagement is addressed, he said and suggested that the government should focus on the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline project, instead of keep pressing importing expensive RLNG.
The JI leader, while suggesting a way forward, demanded of the government to immediately withdraw the tax slab recently placed on the salaried class as a confidence-building measure in order to avoid any snag in negotiations.
On the occasion, he revealed that the government had approached the JI for negotiations and also took its technical committee onboard. The technical committee of the government agreed to several points highlighted by the JI during the negotiations and sought time for consultations, he said, adding that since then practically the government had been on the run to gain time.
He made it clear that the government would not be spared and it would have to provide relief to the lower and middle classes of the nation. Further talking about the demands, the JI leader said that the party didn’t want anything for itself; instead, all the demands werepeople-centric. We demand relief for lower and middleclasses, and traders, he said, adding that the electricity tariff should be reduced to the production cost.
He added that the government should have paid a subsidy on electricity bills as practised in many democracies, but right now the nation demands electricity at its production cost, as the people, in the given scenario, are unable to pay the capacity charges.
The capacity payment should not be charged from the people, he said, adding that the JI also demanded accountability for all those individuals who had played any role in connection with the agreements with the IPPs. He demanded that the accounts of the IPPs should be frozen, a forensic audit of their accounts conducted and an example be made out of them.
Rehman further said that the JI had turned a new leaf in the history of peaceful political resistance against injustice in the country. He held the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) responsible for the prevailing situation of the energy crisis coupled with the worst kind of corruption in the name of capacity charges. These parties even included the beneficiaries in their cabinets, he added.
Talking about alleged mismanagement and mala fide intention on the part of the government, he said that the ruling regime announced it would eliminate taxes on stationery but it failed to do so practically. It shows the inability and failures or misdeeds on the part of the government, he remarked.
He highlighted that the ruling party itself was not on the same page and cracks among the party were visible. He also demanded from the government to eliminate taxes on milk and other food items. He added that all the demands put forward by the JI were aspirations of the nation.
Rehamn said that the sense of deprivation and helplessness had been increasing among the youth, as a result of which everyone wanted to go abroad. He warned the government that the scope of sit-ins would be expanded if the ruling regime showed any more lethargic attitude as the JI would not dash hopes of the nation and particularly the youth.
He further said that the prime minister and other political, judicial and establishment high-ups will have to switch to 1300CC cars if they must want to use the taxpayers’ money for their transportation. He added that they will also have to produce money trails for their sports utility and other luxury vehicles.
Sindh JI chief Mohammad Hussain Mehnati in his address hailed the role of Karachi against injustice. He said that the nation would not pay the price of corruption and mismanagement on the part of ruling regimes.
Karachi JI emir Munem Zafar also addressed the sit-in and expressed the party’s resolve to continue the protest till all the demands were met. Representatives from various walks of life also delivered speeches at the sit-in. They shared their ordeals and expressed their trust in the JI leadership.
The JI’s Karachi’ sit-in against inflation, unjust governmental policies, IPPs and uneven tax regime entered the third consecutive day, with the JI leadership expressing its resolve to further expand the scope of the protest if the demands were not met. A large number of Karachiites, belonging to all walks of life, maintained their presence at the sit-in despite heavy rains a night earlier.