Lahore: Jamaat-e-Islami has announced a nationwide strike today against the petroleum levy and rising inflation, while a high-level government delegation is also scheduled to hold talks with the party leadership.
Addressing a sit-in in Lahore, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said the Pakistan Muslim League-N talks about negotiations on one hand while resorting to pressure on the other.
He said the party would announce its next course of action after today’s nationwide strike.
Hafiz Naeem said the government had shifted the entire burden of inflation onto the public while continuing to increase its own expenditures.
He questioned why privileges such as expensive vehicles, free electricity and fuel for ministers and government officials were not being withdrawn.
Meanwhile, a high-level government delegation will meet Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in Lahore today to discuss the party’s demands and the possible end of the ongoing sit-ins.
Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government was approaching the talks in good faith and that issues should be resolved through dialogue rather than protests and rallies.
He added that Pakistan currently needs peace and economic stability.
The government committee is scheduled to meet the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership at Mansoorah at 3pm today.
