Last Updated on September 19, 2026 by YeJahan
Govt delegation tells JI: “Unprecedented relief package” for ordinary citizens was being finalizedMUHAMMAD BIN SAEED
LAHORE (Sept 19): The high-stakes standoff between Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the federal government remains deadlocked after a fifth round of crisis talks ended in failure in Mansora on Saturday, with the religious-political party flatly rejecting a state plea to abort their looming “Super Long March.”
A heavyweight government team consisting of Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah, alongside Punjab Provincial Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique, entered the session with a pressing appeal, citing credible intelligence of a “severe security threat” to any large public gathering.
However, the JI delegation—led by Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch—remained unmoved. Emerging from the closed-door talks, Baloch declared that the cross-country march remains entirely non-negotiable until the government brings about an immediate dismantling of the petroleum levy and provides genuine economic respite to a struggling populace.
“The long march is an inevitability unless the government moves from vague rhetoric to concrete action on the ground,” Baloch told reporters. “Our workers will take to the streets, and the responsibility for the fallout will lie squarely with the treasury benches.”
Behind closed doors, the government ministers scrambled to offer concessions, pledging that an “unprecedented relief package” for ordinary citizens was being finalized and would be rolled out imminently. Yet, in the same breath, the official delegation laid bare the razor-thin margins left to the state, citing suffocating pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of an emergency team visit to Pakistan.
With negotiations collapsing under the weight of fiscal reality, Jamaat-e-Islami is now pressing ahead with its disruptive plans. Under the direct leadership of the party’s central Emir, the vanguard of the “Super Long March” is scheduled to set off from Karachi tomorrow, setting up a perilous political confrontation that will snake its way through the country’s main arterial highways.
Copyright YeJahan News Network, 2026
