LOWER DIR/LAKKI MARWAT: Jamaat-i-Islami workers held demonstrations on Sunday against the excessive electric loadshedding and inclusion of different taxes and fuel cost adjustment charges in the power bills.

Hundreds of Jamaat workers led by the party’s Lower Dir chief Izazul Mulk Afkari came out from the JI district headquarters in Balambat and walked on the roads.

The rally was held on the call of JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.

Carrying party flags, banners and placards the protesters chanted slogans against the government and Peshawar Electric Supply Company authorities.

Izazul Mulk, JI district general secretary Hafiz Yaqubur Rehman, former MNA Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, Malik Sher Bahadar and others addressed the rally.

The speakers accused the government of looting power consumers in the name of fuel price adjustment and other taxes. They said the current inflation, unemployment and devaluation of Pakistani currency had broken the back of lower and middle-class people.

The speakers said the power consumers were not ready to accept extra taxes and FCA charges in their bills. They also complained that over 12 hours of power outages had affected the traders, and they were too unable to pay exorbitant bills. They demanded of the government to immediately abolish all taxes and fuel costs incorporated in the power bills.

They warned to bring people onto the roads if their demands were not met.

Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Meanwhile, Jamaat activists held a demonstration against electric outages and lawlessness in Bannu district.

After passing through different bazaars, the protesters gathered on the Mandan Road and closed it vehicular traffic.

They held banners and party flags and raised anti-government slogans. The protesters held the incumbent rulers responsible for the terrible mess the country was facing.

Speaking on the occasion, JI district emir Mohammad Ajmal Khan, Dr Abdul Rauf Quraishi, Maulana Hidayatullah, Ejaz Surani and others said that the entire district was hard hit by excessive power outages, troubling local residents.

On one hand the people are facing the relentless heatwave, while on the other, the unscheduled and prolonged loadshedding has added to their miseries, they said.

The local Jamaat leaders said people were paying for costly electricity but the facility was not available to them. They also rejected the budget and said that the huge taxation would break the backbone of inflation-hit people.

The JI leaders also said that the law enforcement agencies had failed to maintain peace and harmony in the southern district.

They said incidents of targeted killing and other crimes had become a routine, and asked the police and LEAs to bridle criminals’ gangs and bring them to justice.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2024