JI asks KP govt to give relief to people in power bills

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to announce relief for the people in electricity bills and tax waiver for the salaried class.

Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, he expressed concern over the dwindling economy.

He said the economic situation was not good and the inflated electricity bills had made life miserable for the people.

“The Punjab government has announced a two-month temporary relief for the people of the province. But it is not enough and that should be extended to the entire country,” he said.

The JI chief said the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should emulate the Punjab government and announce relief to the people in electricity charges and waiver of taxes on the salaried class. “The KP government should also take up the matter with the Centre,” he added.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman blasted the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) after accusing them of committing excesses against the masses. He announced that the JI would hold a countrywide strike on August 28 against the IPPs, the heavy utility bills and the government’s policies. He said that the trader organisations had also supported the JI strike call and all the shops and businesses across the country would remain closed on the day.

The JI chief alleged that the government was conspiring to create a split among the trader organisations and force them to stay away from the strike.

He asked the trader bodies to be aware of such plots and foil them to make the strike a success for the people of the country.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman expressed concern over the poor law and order situation in the country, saying that the government and the state institutions had badly failed to maintain peace.

He referred to the tragic incident of Rahimyar Khan wherein 12 policemen lost lives in an attack by the dacoits and asked how would police provide safety to the people when they were not safe.

The JI chief condemned the incident and expressed sympathies with the families of the slain policemen but in the same breath asked the police high-ups to let the people know about the negligence of the quarters concerned due to which the gory incident took place.

He criticized the state institutions for ignoring their actual responsibilities while focusing his entire attention on politicians. “If they keep their eyes focused on politicians and ignore their responsibilities, such incidents would continue to happen,” he remarked.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said the situation in the merged tribal districts is also not good but said the military operations would cause collateral damage and spread hatred and anti-state elements would take advantage of the situation.

The state institutions should think over it and they should rather take steps for durable peace, which could be made possible through social and legal justice and the provision of basic facilities like education, health and respectable employment to the local populace, he stressed.

The JI chief welcomed the Supreme Court decision in the Mubarak Sani case. He said it was good that the Supreme Court listened to the arguments of the religious leaders and the JI representatives and removed the controversial paragraphs from the decision.

To a question about talks with Afghanistan, he said the door for talks should always remain open. “Both sides should take steps for trust building.

The Afghan government should stop the use of its soil for terror activities against Pakistan and both the states should respect each other’s sovereignty, he said.