Registration of FIR against JI leaders flayed

LAHORE : Jamaat Islami has strongly condemned the government for registration of FIR against its leadership and workers regarding Friday’s sit-in at Gujranwala, terming the move a fascist tactic to suppress democratic rights and a proof of Imran Khan government’s bewilderment with just the third sit-in from the planned 101.

PTI government cannot intimidate Jamaat-e-Islami by adopting fascist tactics, said JI information secretary Qaiser Sharif in a statement from Mansoorah on Saturday. Qaiser Sharif said peaceful protest against government’s cruel policies and economic devastation is the constitutional and democratic right of masses. JI will continue to mobilise people against oppression, inflation, unemployment, surrendering State Bank to IMF and subjecting the opponents to state repression. He said the sit-in in Gujranwala was peaceful and government cases were unjustified and an attempt to intimidate us. He demanded that the cases be withdrawn immediately otherwise the next course of action would be announced.

He indicated that two meetings were held on the same day in Gujranwala, one by PTI in Mandi Bahauddin, the other by Jamaat-e-Islami, but only JI leadership was booked for violation of COVID SOPs while ruling party was being applauded for forcibly gathering people.