Hundreds of supporters of an Islamist party launched a sit-in protest in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after Pakistani authorities said they detained several supporters trying to hold a rally in the neighbouring capital for security reasons.
ISLAMABAD — Hundreds of supporters of Pakistan’s main Islamist party launched a sit-in protest in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late Friday after authorities detained dozens for security reasons to prevent a rally being held in neighboring Pakistan’s capital, officials said.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan party had initially called for a sit-in near the parliament building in Islamabad to pressure the government to reverse a steep increase in electricity tariffs that has drawn nationwide criticism and people complain that their electricity bills are higher than their salaries.
Pakistan Islami Party president Naeem-ur-Rehman told protesters in Rawalpindi that they were ready to continue the sit-in for even a few weeks, and said police had made scores of arrests of his party’s supporters to prevent a sit-in in Islamabad.
Officials said electricity tariffs were increased to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during negotiations that led to a staff-level agreement on a new $7 billion loan deal for Pakistan earlier this month.
