KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi has called off its 4-day protest staged outside Governor’s House against increase in tariff by the Karachi Electric (KE), overbilling and fuel adjustment charges here on Tuesday after getting assurance from Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair.
The JI was on a drive under the supervision of the party`s Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman against the power company.
Speaking on this occasion, Rehman said that if the demands are not met within 15 days, JI will stage a sit-in on Shahrah-e-Faisal. He had refused to hold any kind of talks with K-Electric. He said that they had asked Sindh governor to get the issues related to K-Electric resolved. He said that they were staging protest only for rights of masses of city. This protest was not for the sake of their politics, he added. He said that due to greed of the private power company the citizens were facing continuous mental and physical trauma. He held federal and provincial governments responsible for miseries to more than 22 million people of the city. The JI leader said that it was unfortunate that the power regulatory authority National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA) administration and politicians were supporting KE`s illegal moves.
He said that the workers remained peaceful despite shelling and baton charges. He further said that it was a peaceful sit-in against load shedding and over-billing by K-Electric. He claimed that a large number of people from all walks of life including representatives of trade unions, civil society and citizens of Karachi had participated in the protest. He added that the governor had promised to hold talks with the power company and they had agreed in principle but the federal government would have to play its due role in addressing miseries of residents of Karachi. He recalled that the company was bound to pay billions of rupees to Karachiites as per NEPRA’s rulings.
The JI workers and supporters carrying placards and banners were chanting slogans against the government, NEPRA and K-Electric on this occasion.
