PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Friday announced it would stage a ‘long march’ on Islamabad and hold a sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s House if the original China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project was not executed.

The announcement was made by JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan during the party’s sit-in staged outside the Governor’s House to protest the ‘change’ in the CPEC original plan.

The sit-in staged on the busy Sher Shah Suri Road from 2pm to 5pm was attended by a large number of JI workers.

The activists of the Qaumi Watan Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami and Pakhtunkhwa Olasi Tehreek were also in attendance.

Holding banners and placards, the protesters shouted slogans against the federal government insisting injustice has been done to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan over the CPEC project.

The sit-in caused massive traffic jam on several arteries linked to Sher Shah Suri Road for almost three hours to the misery of motorists and commuters.

JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad said federal minister for planning and development Ahsan Iqbal had been reluctant to disclose details of the CPEC project.

Says will hold a sit-in outside PM House if original corridor project not executed

“Ahsan Iqbal has failed to satisfy the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leadership regarding the change in the CPEC,” he said.

Mr Mushtaq said Nawaz Sharif was not only the prime minister of Punjab but he was the prime minister of other provinces as well.

He said all political parties and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had strong reservations about the CPEC project due to change in its original route to benefit Punjab.

“We have no complaint against the people of Punjab. Instead, we’re worried about the attitude of the prime minister,” he said.

The JI leader said Pakistan was a federation with four units (provinces), which should be given the due share in the CPEC project instead of Punjab getting all the focus.

He said the CPEC project would not only benefit Pakistan but it would bring economic prosperity in the entire region as well.

Mr Mushtaq said the decisions taken about the CPEC project during the Islamabad multi-party conference should be implemented in letter and spirit. He said according to the multi-party conference’s decisions, work on the CPEC’s western route would be executed with all its components such as railway, oil and gas pipeline, fiber optic cable, and electricity, LNG and transmission line projects.

Senior minister for local government and rural development department Inayatullah Khan, who was also in attendance, said after the change in the CPEC project, 80 per cent of the $46 billion investment would be spent in Punjab with other provinces getting the meagre share.

“It is an injustice that most of the investment under the CPEC project has gone to Punjab instead of the militancy- stricken KP and Balochistan,” he said.

The minister said the original CPEC project shared with politicians during the Islamabad multi-party conference was different from the one being executed.

He said the federal government had made many changes in the project to benefit Punjab.

“The federal government has also backtracked from the initial announcement that work will first begin on the western route of the CPEC,” he said.

Senior minister for irrigation department and QWP leader Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, who also showed up, said all political parties were united to ensure the provision of the due share in the CPEC project to KP.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2016