Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI) announced on Wednesday that it would begin the third phase of its countrywide protest campaign against the petroleum levy on Friday, with sit-ins scheduled in every district nationwide, according to a party press release.
The government currently imposes Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. In early September, the federal government and JI agreed to establish committees to propose measures for reducing the levy, following the party’s announcement of a nationwide strike.
According to JI’s press release issued on Wednesday, the latest round of protests would commence on the directives of party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. The party reiterated that its primary demand remained the complete abolition of the petroleum levy.
JI further stated that the government had not made any subsequent contact regarding a proposed meeting between Rehman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which the premier had previously offered to arrange.
The statement recalled that Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, Rana Sanaullah, had reached out to JI Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch to communicate the premier’s request for a meeting.
“Both sides had agreed that their respective committees would meet to work out a schedule for the proposed meeting,” the press release stated. However, it added that the government had not contacted the party again since that agreement.
The party emphasized that Rehman had already made it clear that the central issue to be discussed in any meeting with the prime minister would be the complete removal of the petroleum levy.
“The JI emir has warned that if the government continues to delay action and refuses to provide relief to the public, the matter will be decided through street protests.”
JI further stated that its nationwide movement against the petroleum levy would persist until the government fulfilled its demand.
On August 16, JI announced plans to hold sit-ins in all provincial capitals across Pakistan to protest the petroleum levy. The party also called for a countrywide strike on September 3.
Later, on September 20, the party initiated a protest march towards Islamabad, cautioning the government that its demonstration could escalate into a movement to remove the government if the petroleum levy was not abolished.
However, on September 22, JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced that the party was postponing its long march after its convoy reached Multan, following a request from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and pending a meeting with him.
