Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has spoken by telephone with Jamaat-e-Islami’s ameer, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, after the party’s Super Train march demanding the withdrawal of the petroleum levy reached Multan. A Jamaat spokesman gave the information on Tuesday.
According to a report by the Karachi-based outlet Geo News, the prime minister asked Jamaat’s ameer to suspend the continuing train march towards Islamabad temporarily. He called for the programme to be suspended until Shehbaz Sharif returns to Pakistan.
The prime minister made the request immediately after Jamaat’s ameer reached Multan. The party’s spokesman said Shehbaz Sharif had also expressed an interest in holding meaningful talks with Jamaat on the petroleum levy after he returns to the country.
In the conversation with the prime minister, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said Jamaat does not want to worsen the law and order situation or to become embroiled in conflict with the government. The party has taken to the streets in order to put forward the concerns and demands of ordinary people, he said, and the government should therefore respect their right to peaceful protest.
The Jamaat ameer said that after receiving the prime minister’s request to suspend the long march, the matter would be discussed with the shura, the party’s central decision-making council. The next decision would be taken on the shura’s advice.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman made clear, however, that even if the programme is temporarily suspended at the government’s request, Jamaat will not step back from its right to protest.