Hafiz Naeem Questions Four-Hour Delay in JI Protest Train
HYDERABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has questioned a roughly four-hour delay in the Shalimar Express as his party continued its protest journey towards Islamabad, while railway officials attributed the disruption to an earlier engine fault.
The JI protest caravan left Karachi on Sunday aboard the Rehman Baba Express and reached Sukkur before participants were scheduled to continue towards Multan on the Shalimar Express. The train, however, reached Sukkur around four hours late on Monday.
Hafiz Naeem publicly questioned whether the delay had any connection with JI’s train march. He also called on the federal government to explain Pakistan Railways’ performance if delays of four to five hours had become routine. His suggestion of a possible link between the delay and the protest was posed as a question, and the available reporting provides no evidence establishing such a connection.
Railway officials offered an operational explanation for the disruption. An official at the Karachi chief controller’s office said the Shalimar Express had arrived in Karachi late after an engine fault at Tando Adam in Sanghar district, delaying its return journey. The train subsequently reached Hyderabad at about 1:25pm instead of its usual 9:20am arrival time.
Pakistan Railways’ Karachi division separately said departures of some up-country trains were expected to be delayed because several incoming trains were themselves running late. The Shalimar Express eventually departed Rohri railway station at around 5:45pm.
Hafiz Naeem said the first phase of JI’s mobilisation had ended and its second phase had begun with the journey towards Multan. He said other caravans were also travelling towards Islamabad from Balochistan and Bab-i-Khyber.
The march forms part of JI’s campaign demanding withdrawal of the petroleum levy. Independent reporting ahead of the march confirms that JI announced the Karachi-to-Islamabad mobilisation specifically as part of its campaign against the levy.
During the Sukkur stop, Hafiz Naeem again called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to abolish the petroleum levy and provide relief to consumers.
In a fresh development on Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz reportedly asked Hafiz Naeem to postpone the Islamabad march until the premier returns to Pakistan and offered further talks over the petroleum levy.
