ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Tuesday cautioned the government against reneging on promises made with the JI at the end of the sit-in, adding that his party had started a countdown.

Addressing at a press conference here, JI chief said that they do not follow anyone’s instructions and if the government does not give relief to the people in 40 days, then he will not be able to stop anyone from heading to D-Chowk.

The JI chief slamming the leadership of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that both the parties were abusing power, adding that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which was ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2013 was also not serving the masses but the vested interests.

The JI emir said the rulers were enjoying all the privileges while depriving the people of even the basic rights and bombarding them with endless taxes on everything.

The JI chief blamed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for being unable to collect taxes. He said the FBR, instead, was involved in corruption, adding that as much as Rs 1,299 billion were being embezzled by the officials ever since it was given powers equivalent to those of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The JI chief avoided any comment on recent arrest of Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd), citing it as army’s internal matter. He lambasted the PML-N, PTI and PPP-led provincial governments in Punjab, KPK and Sindh for not allowing the local government to become functional and serve the people. He said that all the three major parties were against the transfer of powers and resources to the local governments.

He asked the government to start construction work on Iran-Pakistan (IP) Gas pipeline project which will greatly help tackle the energy crisis and rid the country of importing expensive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). He said that according to experts, monthly, the country was suffering an estimated Rs205 billion in financial losses owing to petroleum products’ smuggling from Iran and the government must utilise all the resources to control smuggling and replace it with legal trade which will benefit the entire country as well as minimise the energy sector’s problems.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024