JI ‘super long march’ reaches Multan as Hafiz Naeem weighs PM Shehbaz’s ‘request’ to defer protest

Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI)’s march reached Multan on Tuesday as party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman addressed supporters and prepared to announce the next phase of the protest, while according to JI Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged him to postpone the planned long march for a few days.

According to a post on X, the march, which began in Karachi, had entered its second phase after reaching Multan. Hafiz Naeem was addressing supporters there, with an announcement on the party’s next course of action expected.

The prime minister contacted the JI chief shortly after arriving in New York and requested that the party defer its long march, according to statements issued by both sides.

According to the tweet by JI PM Shehbaz told Hafiz Naeem that the government had announced a relief package for the public and asked him to postpone the march. The JI chief, however, said the package was not acceptable and that the party would continue its campaign.

According to Hafiz Naeem, the prime minister said he would meet him after returning to Pakistan and announce a better relief package.

JI maintains demand for levy withdrawal

Hafiz Naeem has said the party’s central demand is the immediate withdrawal of the petroleum levy, which he says has placed an additional burden on the public.

He said the JI had been protesting against the levy for around one and a half months and would not end its campaign until the charges were withdrawn.

The JI chief said he would consult the party leadership before responding to the prime minister’s request for a temporary pause.

The party said consultations would be held in Multan on Tuesday morning, after which it would announce its next course of action.

March moves towards Islamabad

The JI’s train march began in Karachi on Sunday as part of its campaign against the petroleum levy. The procession subsequently reached Rahim Yar Khan before moving towards Multan.

Hafiz Naeem has said negotiations with the government are continuing, but the protest movement would proceed if the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the levy.

The party has rejected the government’s targeted fuel-relief proposal as insufficient, maintaining that the petroleum levy itself should be abolished.

Following the Multan leg, the JI had planned to shift to a road caravan towards Lahore before beginning the final leg of its march towards Islamabad. The party chief has also said caravans were moving towards the capital from Balochistan and other parts of the country.

The march faced a delay on Monday after the Shalimar Express carrying protesters from Sukkur towards Multan developed a delay. Pakistan Railways attributed the disruption to an engine fault in Tando Adam.

The JI’s protest campaign comes as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) prepares for its own planned protest and march on Islamabad on September 27, with authorities stepping up security arrangements in and around the capital.