Several supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have been arrested in different parts of the country as the police initiated a crackdown against the party amid a sit-n at D-Chowk.
JI is protesting against a massive hike in electricity prices on the call of his party leader Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman while the PTI took to streets across the country today (Friday) to pressurize the government for the release of the party’s founder, Imran Khan, and other detained part leaders.
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Earlier after the sit-in call The police also closed the Faizabad interchange connecting Rawalpindi to Islamabad by placing containers and barriers. Along with the placement of containers at the capital city’s access points, significant roads and intersections now only permit one lane of traffic. Residents are experiencing severe inconvenience with traffic jams and long queues of vehicles, especially offices going employees are facing very severe traffic jams.
Remember that Section 144 is also imposed across Punjab and the federal capital, prohibiting assemblies, processions, and protests.
JI Workers Arrest
JI spokesperson Qaiser Sharif claimed that their 500 workers who were heading to Islamabad have been arrested, terming it the ‘worst example of police terrorism’.
In a statement, Qaiser Sharif said that police raided the homes of office-bearers and workers, ‘desecrating’ the ones’ privacy by making videos of homes.
He said that police arrested even the guests from workers’ homes at various locations, saying that around 500 workers have been arrested by police.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the JI Ameer, in his video message, directed his workers to stage a peaceful sit-in wherever they are stopped by the administration. He said that caravans have left for the sit-in at D-Chowk with ‘great enthusiasm’.
“We are peaceful people and want to remain peaceful. Wherever there is an obstacle, the workers should hold a sit-in. We will turn one sit-in into many sit-ins,” the JI chief said.
