Hundreds of supporters of a key Islamist party began a sit-in in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late on Friday after authorities detained dozens to prevent them from holding the rally in Pakistan’s neighbouring capital, citing security reasons, officials said.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan party originally issued a call for holding the sit-in near the parliament building in Islamabad to pressure the government to withdraw a substantial increase in electricity costs, which have drawn nationwide criticism. People complain they are getting electricity bills even higher than their salaries.
Naeem-ur-Rehman, who heads Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, told demonstrators in Rawalpindi that he was willing to stage the sit-in even for weeks. He said police arrested a large number of the party’s supporters to prevent them from staging the sit-in in Islamabad.
Authorities say electricity fees have been increased to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund during negotiations that led to a staff-level agreement for a new US$7 billion loan deal for Pakistan earlier this month.
