LAHORE: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will hold a three-day protest march against inflation from Feb 10, announced JI Secretary General Amirul Azeem, saying the party has set out to resist the government’s moves to impose the IMF conditions on the poor masses.

He told reporters at Mansoora on Wednesday that JI emir Sirajul Haq will lead the march from Lahore to Islamabad.

Azeem also demanded general elections instead of polls in two provinces, saying the government lost credibility by continuing to rule. He claimed that the PDM-PPP unity government was brought to power, and that if it remained in power, only the elite would survive. He also demanded the release of “Gwardar Rights Movement” leader Maulana Hidayatur Rahman and his colleagues. He said the march agenda included the protection of the rights of Balochistan people.

He said the ECP and the provincial governments must complete local government institutions, allowing representatives of the people to exercise their legal powers.

Azeem said the judiciary failed to protect the rights of the weak in the country. He said the people in the government were getting clean chits against their past crimes and corruption, and those who had been in power a few months ago were going to prison. The overall scenario, he said, exposed how the courts work in the country.

He warned the government against accepting the IMF agenda, calling it anti-poor and pro-elite. He said the country did not need any loan, but it did need to bring back into the country the wealth of the ruling elite, which they had looted and stashed in foreign accounts and shell companies.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2023