ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani religious party protesting against the rising cost of living in the country will hold negotiations with the government today, Sunday, after meeting a delegation of the ruling administration that agreed to release its detained party workers.
Thousands of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) supporters have camped in Rawalpindi’s historic Liaqat Bagh ground, demanding the government remove additional taxes imposed in the latest budget presented last month.
JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has also called for a reduction in power tariffs recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid soaring inflation, along with a review of Pakistan’s loss-making agreements with independent power producers (IPPs).
The government formed a three-member negotiating committee to engage with the JI leadership a day earlier when the party said hundreds of its workers had been arrested by law enforcement agencies.
“The negotiations between the government and Jamaat-e-Islami will begin on July 28,” the party said in a brief statement after meeting the visiting delegation at the site of the sit-in. “The time and place [for the talks] will be announced later.”
Earlier, the JI said there could be no negotiations with the government before the release of its workers.
“We have rejected the government’s three-member negotiation committee as it comprises irrelevant people,” Aamir Baloch, the party spokesperson, told Arab News. “We will negotiate with the government only when all of our arrested workers are released.”
“Our 300 out of 1,100 workers were arrested by Islamabad and Punjab police,” he continued. “They are still in custody, so there is no point in starting negotiations at this stage.”
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced the formation of the government’s negotiating team on Friday, saying it included him and two senior members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
“We are ready for negotiations, but don’t disrupt public life,” he said during a news conference. “The government’s three-member committee will talk to you. Amir Muqam, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and I will negotiate with you. Whenever you express willingness, we are ready for the negotiations.”
The JI decided to form a four-member committee to negotiate with the government after Tarar and his delegation went to meet the party leaders and held a conversation in an amicable environment.
The JI said the information minister had assured its leadership of releasing the detained party workers.
Prior to that, the Rawalpindi district administration closed Murree Road, a main thoroughfare in the city, with shipping containers and deployed heavy contingents of security personnel around the sit-in site to avoid any untoward incident.
The JI chief had also addressed his supporters at Liaqat Bagh, expressing his resolve to make the government accept the party’s demands.
“If the government believes our sit-in will remain confined to Murree Road, this is its wishful thinking,” Naeem-ur-Rehman said. “If they do not reduce electricity bills, address the IPP issue and revoke tax slabs imposed on the salaried classes, then this sit-in will not remain limited here. It will spread to the entire country.”
