JI leader warns of protests over electricity tariff hike, gas outages.

KARACHI -- The Jamaat-i-Islami on Wednesday warned that it would stage a sit-in on Sharea Faisal and 'siege' the Governor House if the authorities concerned failed to withdraw the recent increase in charges by K-Electric (KE) and restore gas supply to the city within the next 10 days.

Addressing a press at the party headquarters, the party's Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman insisted that if the government and both the entities failed to normalise the situation, the people of Karachi would besiege the Governor House and stage a sit-in on Sharea Faisal. Besides, protest demonstrations will also be held in different parts of the city, market areas, main centres and outside masjids, he said.

'It's quite unfortunate Prime Minister Imran Khan only stays for a few hours here whenever he visits Karachi and flies back after making only a few statements,' he said. 'Why is KE chief executive officer Arif Naqvi given a free hand and why has he been allowed to create a state within a state? The custodians and so-called well-wishers at the helm of Sindh and in the federal government have failed in resolving the basic civic issues of Karachi.'

The government had increased petroleum prices, which...