Hafiz Naeem Vows Wider Sit-Ins to Pressure Government

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has vowed to intensify the party's ongoing protest campaign, saying nationwide sit-ins will be used to increase pressure on the government over inflation, the petroleum levy and disputed arrangements involving independent power producers. Addressing supporters at a sit-in on Lahore's Mall Road on Wednesday night, he said the movement would continue expanding unless the government responded to the party's demands.

Rehman said demonstrations that began in major cities were spreading to additional parts of the country. He referred to ongoing protests in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar and said a sit-in had also started in Hyderabad against inflation and the petroleum levy. The JI leader presented the campaign as a public movement centred on the financial burden facing ordinary citizens rather than a protest designed around the party's institutional interests.

The JI chief also addressed the deaths of 14 newborns in the fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, using the tragedy to criticise governance and accountability. He argued that repeated national tragedies are followed by inquiries without satisfactory results and called for those responsible for the PIMS incident to be held accountable. The hospital fire has already triggered official investigations and widespread demands for an independent assessment of safety failures.

Rehman sharply criticised the PML-N, PPP and MQM-P, accusing the major governing parties of failing to provide meaningful relief to the public. He said JI would rely on public mobilisation rather than political arrangements behind closed doors and maintained that the party intended to pursue wider systemic change through popular support. His remarks continued a line of criticism JI has used throughout its current anti-levy campaign.

The latest warning follows more than a week of demonstrations over fuel taxation, electricity costs and independent power producer agreements. Earlier on Wednesday, reports said the Lahore sit-in had entered its 10th day, while JI had also threatened a nationwide shutdown, road blockades and a march on Islamabad if its demands were ignored. The party has repeatedly demanded withdrawal of the petroleum levy and relief for consumers facing higher transport and energy costs.

Rehman has also raised concerns about payments and arrangements involving IPPs and has called for greater scrutiny of the power sector. He argues that consumers should not be required to bear costs stemming from what JI describes as unfair agreements and government spending priorities. The party has sought to connect these economic demands with broader criticism of governance, taxation and the privileges enjoyed by political and administrative elites.

Wednesday night's address indicates that JI intends to maintain pressure after Eid Miladun Nabi rather than wind down the demonstrations. Previous statements from the party have included plans for a shutter-down strike and possible further mobilisation if negotiations do not produce concessions. The latest Express Urdu report did not include an immediate government response to Rehman's renewed warning.

The next significant development will be whether JI announces a formal timetable for further nationwide protests and whether the federal government opens substantive talks on the petroleum levy and other economic demands. Any expansion of the sit-ins would increase the political visibility of cost-of-living issues and test whether the party can sustain participation across multiple cities as it seeks concessions from the government.