Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday warned of expanding its Rawalpindi sit-in to other areas across the country if the government did not accept its demands regarding high power bills and rise in taxes.

Addressing the sit-in at Liaquat Bagh, Rehman said, “If the government is thinking that the sit-in would continue on Murree Road only, it is its wishful thinking.

“If they do not reduce electricity bills in a genuine manner, do not address the matter of IPPs (independent power producers) and do not revoke the [tax] slab on the salaried class, then this sit-in would not remain limited to here; it would spread further to the entire country.”

A day ago, the government had managed to convince the party to agree to shift its protest against inflation and exorbitant electricity bills — which paralysed the capital and its twin city — from D-Chowk in the Red Zone to Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh.

The decision to change location had come after the government held talks with the JI leadership. Around 40 JI workers and supporters were arrested from various areas while trying to make their way into the capital to attend the demonstration.

Due to the sit-in, Murree Road from Mareer Chowk to Committee Chowk is closed to traffic while Metro Bus service has also been suspended, prolonging residents’ hardships as extraordinary security measures had been employed earlier ahead of the JI and PTI protests.

In his speech today, the JI chief reiterated his demand to release all arrested workers and officially clarify details regarding a committee to hold talks with the party.

“I want to tell the government to not remain in any illusion. We have arrived here and will formulate a plan of action on a daily basis. We will not leave from here, God-willing,” he said.

“The government has only one way,” Rehman said as he detailed his party’s demands.

“If they would not bring the talks on the right path; if they would not form a proper committee, reduce electricity bills in a genuine manner, revoke this [petroleum] levy and end tax slabs on the salaried class introduced in this budget … these are genuine demands […].”

“[Power] plants had availed ten times the amount invested in them. Those running their plants properly should be renegotiated with, but a forensic audit should be conducted of those committing fraud,” Rehman asserted, demanding that government officials involved in wrongful business should be “punished strictly”.

Regarding electricity bills, the JI leader said that it was the first time in Pakistan that even industrialists were lamenting about not being able to pay their bills and attempting to get them deferred.

“I met traders and industrialists here in the past week and they lamented ‘we are at our limits and cannot run our factories anymore’,” he added.

Rehman pointed out that the closure of a single factory results in thousands of people losing their jobs.

He suggested that export duties on various sectors be revoked and that taxes be imposed on elites instead of adding them to the masses’ electricity bills. He also called on the government to end exemptions availed by its officials and reduce their own privileges.

“They say they’re bringing traders in the tax next under the banner of ‘Tajir Dost Scheme’. We and the traders are ready to be brought under the net […] If there is any rightful tax, the traders will accept it,” the JI chief said.

“If the government is serious, it will have to take action and grant relief [to the public,” Rehman asserted.

Speaking about the change in the sit-in’s location, the JI emir said he agreed to do so as otherwise, the government would have “sabotaged” the demonstration by using police force, leaving “no ray of hope” for the masses.

“If we wanted, we could have reached D-Chowk and they (government) could not have stopped us. But what would have happened? They would have created a ruckus.”

Meanwhile, in a post on X, the party announced a “grand public rally” tomorrow (Sunday) at Liaquat Bagh — the venue of the current sit-in — after evening Maghrib prayers.

Additional input from Tahir Naseer