JI steps up anti-levy campaign, announces Islamabad arrival date

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Friday said the party would reach Islamabad between September 23 and 24 as part of its campaign against the petroleum levy, urging the government to abolish the levy and stop increasing petroleum prices.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Rehman said that committees had been formed to organise the party’s march on the federal capital. He said that the JI had formally written to the government seeking permission for its protest in Islamabad.

“The purpose of coming to Islamabad is to seek relief,” he said, adding that the government had acknowledged the party’s demands during negotiations but had failed to take practical steps.

Rehman said that rising petroleum prices had created serious difficulties for the public, while the relief announced by the government was insufficient.

He questioned the government’s economic management and criticised what he described as excessive public spending, including expenditure on an aircraft.

The JI chief said that the party’s central demand was the abolition of the petroleum levy and called for an immediate end to increases in petroleum prices.

JI’s nationwide protest campaign

JI has been holding sit-ins and protests against the petroleum levy and rising fuel prices across the country for more than a month.

The party says its campaign, which began with sit-ins in major cities, has expanded to dozens of locations. JI said earlier this month that protests were continuing in around 40 locations across the country.

The sit-in outside the Sindh Governor House in Karachi had entered its 27th day by September 12, while JI said its protests had spread from the four provincial capitals to around 30 cities.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the JI has also held sit-ins in areas including Batkhela and Timergara. Thousands of people attended a sit-in in Batkhela, which had continued for seven days by September 14.

JI’s own account said the sit-ins in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar had entered their 30th day earlier this week, with protests continuing at around 40 other locations.

The party has rejected the government’s fuel relief package as inadequate and said its protests would continue until the petroleum levy was abolished.

Long march schedule

According to the schedule announced by the JI, a train march will leave Karachi on Sept 20 and head towards Punjab.

The party has said the march will subsequently proceed towards Islamabad, with participants expected to arrive in the capital on September 23-24.

The JI had previously announced September 20 as the date for its Islamabad march, while the latest statement from Rehman put the expected arrival in the capital on September 23 or 24.

The party’s announced schedule says a road caravan will leave Multan for Lahore on September 22, followed by a march from Lahore on Islamabad via the GT Road on September 23.

The JI has also ended its sit-in at Faisal Chowk in Lahore as preparations for the Islamabad march intensified.

The party has said the campaign will remain focused on the abolition of the petroleum levy and relief from high fuel prices.