JI Islamabad Says September 20 March to Camp at D-Chowk Until Levy Demand Met

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami Islamabad Ameer Engineer Nasrullah Randhawa has said that preparations for the party’s Islamabad march against the petroleum levy have been completed, adding that the protest will be historic and entirely peaceful.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside JI Islamabad Secretary General Zubair Safdar, Deputy Secretary Tasawur Kazmi and Information Secretary Rab Nawaz Malik, Randhawa said the party would stay at D-Chowk until its demands were accepted.

He said Jamaat-e-Islami would not retreat from its demands under any circumstances. He added that the government had taken billions of rupees from the people last year in the name of petroleum levy.

Randhawa said the party’s demand was clear: if the government wanted to provide real relief to the public, the petroleum levy must be abolished. He said Jamaat-e-Islami had presented its position with arguments during talks with the government and had also submitted proposals regarding alternative sources of revenue.

He said the call given by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman for the September 20 Islamabad march remained in place. People from across the country would reach Islamabad, he said, adding that hundreds of thousands of participants were expected.

The JI Islamabad chief said the protest would remain within constitutional, legal and democratic limits. He said that after the Islamabad march, the sit-in at D-Chowk would continue until the demands were accepted.

Randhawa urged the government to keep Islamabad’s roads open and said the administration should not block the public’s way by placing containers. He demanded that containers be removed immediately so that citizens did not face difficulties in movement.

He said Jamaat-e-Islami had submitted an application to the administration for holding the sit-in at D-Chowk.

Randhawa said 20 administrative committees and 50 sub-committees had been formed for arrangements of the Islamabad march. He said the administration should also cooperate with these committees so that basic facilities and other arrangements for participants could be ensured in a better manner.

He said the September 20 Islamabad march would be a major and historic gathering in the history of the capital. Zubair Safdar, he added, would be responsible for the overall arrangements of the sit-in.

The JI Islamabad Ameer said leaders of all political parties would be welcomed at the sit-in and workers of all political parties were also invited to take part in the Islamabad march and the sit-in.