ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani religious political party warned the government on Thursday it would expand its sit-in protest from Rawalpindi to other cities if their demands are not accepted within two days. 
Hundreds of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party supporters have been staging a sit-in protest at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh since July 26 against the rising cost of living and additional taxes imposed by the government in the latest budget.
Led by party chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, the JI has demanded the government reduce power tariffs amid soaring inflation and review Pakistan’s existing agreements with independent power producers (IPPs).
A three-member committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif comprising Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, ruling party members Amir Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry have held two rounds of talks with protesters this week but a deadlock persists. 
“We have had two rounds of talks with the government committee, but no agreement has been reached yet,” Aamir Baloch, a JI spokesperson, told Arab News. “If our demands are not met in the next two days, then we will decide to spread our dharna to other cities.”
Baloch said the party was planning to stage sit-in protests in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta in the next phase to mount pressure on the government to accept its demands to decrease power bills and withdraw additional taxes on the salaried class.
He said the party’s negotiating team, led by Liaqat Baloch, held talks with the government’s technical committee on Wednesday in the office of the Rawalpindi commissioner. He said the JI had placed all their “genuine demands” before the committee. 
“We have been waiting to hear back from the government,” Baloch said. 
Arab News contacted Tarar for a comment regarding the JI’s statement but did not get a response till the filing of this report. 
Meanwhile, Punjab police have beefed up security around the sit-in protest in Rawalpindi to protect protesters from any untoward incident. 
Protesters include women and children while the party leadership, including Rehman, speak to their supporters at the venue daily after the Isha night prayers.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson on Thursday rejected Iran’s recent statement condemning violent clashes in its northwestern Parachinar town, saying it was “unwarranted” and based on an “incomplete picture” of the situation.
At least 32 people were killed and over 190 injured in clashes that erupted last week in Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram district, particularly its capital Parachinar town.
The Kurram tribal district has witnessed deadly conflicts among tribes and religious groups as well as sectarian clashes and militant attacks over the years. The latest clashes broke out over a property dispute last week and quickly spread to nearby villages and settlements before the warring tribes agreed to a ceasefire on Sunday.
In a statement on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani condemned the “terrorist attack,” saying it had targeted Shia Muslims in Pakistan. He stressed the need for decisive action against militant groups to protect the lives of the people of Parachinar. 
“Such statements about Pakistan’s domestic affairs are therefore unwarranted,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (MoFA) said during a weekly press briefing. 
“While details may be sought from the Ministry of Interior, we believe that these statements are based on an incomplete picture of the situation in Parachinar,” she added.
Baloch said Pakistan values the life, dignity and prosperity of all of its nationals as a multicultural and multifaith society.
“Pakistan is fully determined to foster social harmony, tolerance, and mutual respect,” she said.
Pakistan and Iran have had a history of rocky relations despite several commercial pacts. Their highest profile agreement is a stalled gas supply deal signed in 2010 to build a pipeline from Iran’s Fars gas field to Pakistan’s southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
Pakistan and Iran also find themselves at odds due to the instability along their shared porous border, with their leaders routinely trading blame after militant attacks in their respective territories.
Earlier this year in January, the two countries exchanged airstrikes, with each government claiming to have targeted militant hideouts in the other country. Both states have since made peace overtures and restored bilateral ties through multiple high-level visits.