Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage Attaullah Tarar on Friday announced the government’s readiness to negotiate with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on their demand in a bid to end their sit-in causing inconvenience to the general public.

“We are ready to talk for peace, security and development of the country which is the main agenda of our government,” the minister said while addressing a news conference along with Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Amir Muqam.

The minister said JI Chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman was a seasoned and far-sighted leader whose guidance would be instrumental for the government to address the existing issues within the existing framework.

He said the government has constituted a three-member committee comprising him, Amir Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to negotiate with the Jamat-e-Islami leadership.

Tarar called upon the JI leadership to sit and guide the government in resolving the issues instead of doing the “politics of agitation”.

The JI was given permission only to stage their sit-in at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, he said, urging them to use only the dedicated place for the purpose.

There was no need to obstructing a public servant in discharge of his/her duty and creating hurdles for the people, he said, regretting one or the other group had made it a routine to swarm the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad that caused traffic issues for the people including patients and professionals.

The minister urged the JI leadership to follow the Standard Operation Procedures agreed with the local administration.

Protest at the D-Chowk would not be allowed at any cost since there was a possibility of a mischief due to involvement of any miscreant, he maintained.

The minister urged the JI leadership to have a faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who had been working 20 hours a day to implement the agenda of home grown economic reforms that included privatization of loss making entities, digitization of the Federal Board of Revenue for documentation of non-documented economy, addition of new filers in the tax net and other initiatives.

He said it was top priority of the government to achieve home grown economic reforms that had started providing fiscal space to offer subsidy to the people in electricity bills.

He said the privatization of the FBR was underway to plug loopholes in system to stop billions of rupee leakage and add new filers into the tax net. “We are moving forward rapidly on economic reforms to bring positive changes in people’s life,” he added.

The minister said PM Shehbaz Sharif led the government during the tenure of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and took concrete measures to stabilize the rupee, reduce inflation and on top of that successfully averted a default for the country.