Jamaat-e-Islami has ended its 33-day sit-in at Lahore’s Chairing Cross, also known as Faisal Chowk, on Mall Road, without a formal announcement from its leadership, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Friday.
According to the report, no Jamaat-e-Islami leader announced the end of the sit-in or issued a new schedule. The development came a day after party chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman joined the protesters and addressed the participants at the site.
Following the end of the protest, Mall Road, which had remained closed to traffic because of the sit-in, was reopened in the wee hours of Friday. Traffic was subsequently restored along the major road.
According to the schedule previously announced by the party, JI plans to hold a protest train march from Karachi to Islamabad on September 20.
The party had staged the protest against levies and rising prices. Several rounds of talks were held between the government and JI leadership at the party’s headquarters in Mansoora, but the discussions failed to produce a result.
The party therefore continued its protest in Lahore for 33 days before ending the sit-in and shifting its focus towards the planned train march.
Late on Thursday night, party workers dismantled the stage and removed the protest camps and other facilitations before leaving the site. The area was left unclean after the workers departed.
Government machinery later cleared the road and restored traffic on Mall Road, bringing the prolonged sit-in at Faisal Chowk to an end.
Reporter: Faran Yamin