JI to hold sit-ins in all districts on Friday over petroleum levy

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will start the third phase of its nationwide protest campaign against the petroleum levy on Friday with sit-ins to be held in every district, the party announced on Wednesday.

In a press release, JI said that the government has not followed up on the proposed meeting between JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, despite earlier contacts between the two sides. The party said that Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, Rana Sanaullah, had approached JI Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch to convey the premier’s request for a meeting.

The two sides had agreed that their respective committees would coordinate a schedule, but the government had made no further contact, the statement said.

JI reiterated that the complete withdrawal of the petroleum levy would be the sole agenda of any meeting. It warned that the campaign would continue across the country until the demand was met, adding that further delays in providing relief to the public would be answered through street protests.

The government currently imposes Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

The latest announcement follows several rounds of protests. JI held sit-ins in provincial capitals on August 16 and called a nationwide strike for September 3. On September 20, it began a march towards Islamabad, warning that the campaign could turn into a movement to remove the government if the levy was not abolished.

Two days later, the JI emir postponed the march, whose convoy had reached Multan, at the prime minister’s request pending a meeting with him.