By Staff Reporters
ISLAMABAD: In response to the government’s road closures and arrests, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) changed its strategy on Friday and announced sit-ins at three locations in the federal capital.
Following the Jamaat-e-Islami’s call for protests against the inflated power bills, containers were placed to block routes leading from the Red Zone and Rawalpindi to the capital. The metro bus service in Rawalpindi has also been suspended, causing significant inconvenience to passengers.
Key intersections in the Red Zone, including D Chowk, Nadra Chowk, and Sarina Chowk, have been sealed with containers.
Additionally, police have arrested Jamaat-e-Islami workers from various locations. However, Jamaat-e-Islami has now changed its approach.
JI spokesperson Qaiser Sharif claimed that 1,150 party workers were arrested from across the country.
Sharif announced that the party decided to hold sit-ins at three locations.
He stated that there would be sit-ins at Murree Road in Rawalpindi, Zero Point in Islamabad, and Chungi No 26, with Hafiz Naeemur Rehman leading the sit-in at Zero Point in Islamabad.
SECTION 144 IN PUNJAB, ISLAMABAD
The federal and Punjab governments, in the meantime, have imposed Section 144 in Punjab and Islamabad amid PTI and JI plans to hold nationwide protests. According to the notification issued in this regard, Section 144 will be in effect from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, July 28.
The Home Department, in a notification, said there would be a ban on rallies, sit-ins, protests and rallies from July 26 to 28. It said the decision had been taken in view of threats of terrorism, adding that public gatherings could be an easy target for militants.
On the other hand, JI Secretary General Ameerul Azeem in a statement said police had conducted raids on the homes of JI leaders in various cities of the country.
He said police had targeted the JI leaders and activists in a bid to disrupt the demonstration and claimed that there have been numerous incidents of police raids, arrests, and mistreatment of women in different cities.
GOVT WARNED
Earlier on Thursday, Jamaat Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned the government that it would be held responsible if the party is prevented from entering Islamabad for their planned protest against electricity price hike and inflation.
In a statement, he said they believe in peaceful political resistance to secure public rights. “We are not afraid of arrests, and the Jamaat-e-Islami cannot be stopped,” he said.
“The historic sit-in on Friday, July 26, will represent 250 million people of Pakistan, and we will sit peacefully at D-Chowk.”
The JI said that convoys from across the country are on their way to join the sit-in. He emphasised that raising their voice for the nation is their constitutional and democratic right and urged the administration to provide a venue for the protest.
He invited and “welcomed any political party that wishes to participate.”
Ahead of the sit-in, police in various areas of Punjab and Rawalpindi raided the homes of JI leaders and officials, arresting several of them.
The police raided the house of Jamaat-e-Islami’s central secretary general, Ameerul Azim, but could not arrest him, instead taking his driver, Shaukat Mahmood.
