KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has asked the government to renegotiate the contracts with independent power producers (IPPs) and warned that any attempt to prevent the JI from holding a protest at D-Chowk in Islamabad on July 26 could result into start of a full-blown anti-government movement.

“The JI is considering all its options, including strikes, countrywide lockdowns and boycott of electricity bills, if the government fails to admit initial demands,” said Hafiz Naeem while addressing the legal fraternity on the invitation of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) at Jinnah Auditorium in City Courts on Wednesday.

The JI chief asked the government to renegotiate contracts with the IPPs and provide immediate relief to the people.

He criticised the government’s “collection of billions of rupees without offering any relief to the people”.

Hafiz Naeem announces protest at D-Chowk in Islamabad tomorrow

“If the tariffs are not revised, the Jamaat-i-Islami will continue its sit-in until our demands are met,” he added.

He said that the agreements with the IPPs that bound the nation to pay them “as per their capacity and not generation” will have to be scrapped. He made it clear that the nation will not pay them hefty ‘Rs2,800 billion’ to a few entities.

He said that these agreements had been signed since 1994 in the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party.

“We are going to stage a sit-in at D-Chowk in Islamabad on July 26. If the government tries to stop us, it could become a problem for them and turn into anti-government movement,” JI chief said.

He said that the JI sit-in would be completely peaceful and urged the people not to take the law into their own hands. “The JI’s protest aims to bringing relief to 250 million Pakistanis,” he added.

Regarding the K-Electric (KE), he said that a private company that had continuously been failing to reduce line losses, loadshedding and address the issue of production over the past 20 years was ironically the same company which had been licensed for production, transmission and distribution of electricity.

He claimed that ‘kickbacks’ were involved in all businesses surrounding the KE. “The nation will not accept the cruel slab system in the electricity bills anymore.”

In his address, Hafiz Naeem also criticised the PPP for its 15 years of governance in Sindh. “Every day, a young person in Karachi loses their life to street criminals,” he said.

He accused the PPP of failing to address fundamental issues in Karachi and pointed out the irony of its chairman claiming his house gets water from tankers. “Ask him how the tankers are getting water while the homes are not,” he questioned.

“Despite Pakistan having five rivers, we are still yearning for every drop of water,” he said, adding that capitalists had taken control of the entire system.

“It is the state’s responsibility to look after the people of Pakistan, and it will have to fulfil this responsibility,” he added.

The JI chief held the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan ‘responsible’ for prevailing crimes, corruption and other crimes in Karachi.

He said that the army chief himself had announced that an organised corruption network titled “System” in Sindh would be busted. “Instead of busting the ‘system’, it has been given access to Islamabad and Balochistan.”

During the event, KBA president Aamir Nawaz Waraich and General Secretary Ikhtiar Ali Channa also spoke.

President Waraich assured the JI chief that the legal fraternity would support the JI’s movement against the KE over excessive loadshedding and electricity bills.

He also mentioned that if the Sindh government did not resolve their issue regarding the allotment of land in DHA, they would continue their sit-in until their demands were met.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024