PTI throws weight behind JI's drive

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan on Sunday announced support for Jamaat-e-Islami's ongoing sit-ins against the petroleum levy and inflation, saying his party would invite the JI to join its long march for justice and would stand by its struggle against rising prices. Gohar also welcomed JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman's statement regarding the release of PTI founder Imran Khan. "We support Jamaat-e-Islami's sit-ins and welcome Hafiz Naeemur Rehman's statement regarding Imran Khan's release," Gohar said. He added that the JI would be invited to participate in the long march for justice and that the PTI would support its campaign against inflation. 'Four-sided march on Islamabad' Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami's countrywide sit-ins against the petroleum levy and inflation entered their 29th day on Sunday. Protest camps and sit-ins continued at more than 35 locations, including Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Haripur and Swat. Preparations are also under way for the JI's planned long march to Islamabad on September 20. JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned that his party's supporters will march towards Islamabad from all four directions, saying it would become difficult for the government to control the "passionate and patriotic" youth if they reached the capital. He urged the government to refrain from denying people their democratic right to protest. Addressing a public gathering at the ongoing JI sit-in in Batkhela, Malakand, the JI emir said the petroleum levy was unacceptable and that the government would be forced through public pressure to give people their due rights. He said the relief announced by the government for motorcycles, rickshaws and small cars was also a result of the people's struggle. "This is only the beginning," he said, adding that the sit-ins would continue until the petroleum levy was abolished. He said the party wanted its constitutional rights rather than charity, adding that it would continue its sit-ins and also march towards Islamabad. "Keep putting up containers everywhere, we are coming," he said. If the government tried to prevent the protesters from exercising their democratic right, he warned, they would break through every obstacle and enter Islamabad from all four directions. He said that when people arrived from all sides, it would become difficult for the government to control them. "If the petroleum levy is not abolished, we will turn this movement into a movement to bring down the government," he said. The JI emir said the longer the government delayed negotiations, the more the sit-ins would expand. He said the party's struggle would continue until relief was provided to the people. He also announced that the sit-ins would continue alongside the long march. With input from Our Peshawar Correspondent