JI Emir Announces Sit-ins Against Petroleum Levy on Aug 16

JI Emir Announces Sit-ins Against Petroleum Levy on Aug 16

Lahore: August 8: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has decided to intensify its campaign against the petroleum levy and inflation, announcing simultaneous sit-ins in all four provincial capitals on August 16 to force the government to withdraw oppressive levy.
The decision was taken after extensive deliberations at a special meeting of JI's central and provincial office-bearers chaired by JI Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman at Mansoorah on Saturday.
Under the plan, JI, its youth wing and women's wing will participate fully in Independence Day activities across the country on August 14 and use the occasion to mobilise people around the party's vision of a just system in Pakistan.
On August 16, JI Emir said, sit-ins will be staged outside the Punjab Chief Minister's House in Lahore and the Governor Houses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.
Rehman said the previous day's nationwide protest had given a new direction and fresh momentum to JI's campaign against the petroleum levy and inflation. He said more than 510 organised and peaceful protests were held across the country, with people from remote areas of Balochistan and interior Sindh to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joining the demonstrations.
He said the protests had demonstrated that JI was becoming a symbol of national unity, as people from Chitral, Malakand, Hazara and central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as towns and cities across Punjab and Sindh, had raised their voices against the petroleum levy.
The JI chief said the public rejected the levy and wanted petrol prices reduced to Rs225 per litre. He said the ruling elite was pushing ordinary citizens into an unbearable inflationary crisis while refusing to cut their own privileges and lavish expenditures.
He said rulers were unwilling to give up official aircraft, reduce government vehicle expenses or end perks such as free fuel and electricity, while students, motorcycle users, workers and farmers were being burdened with indirect taxes through petroleum products. Even people whose incomes were below the taxable threshold, he added, were effectively being taxed through fuel prices.
Rehman said the JI had previously taken to the streets against what he called the IPP mafia, forcing the government to negotiate with independent power producers after initially refusing to engage with them. He said negotiations were held with 17 to 18 IPPs, resulting in some reduction in electricity prices, but the process was subsequently halted.
He said the unresolved energy crisis and rising prices had fuelled an inflationary storm that was affecting every segment of society, particularly salaried people, the middle class and poor families. He warned that the public could no longer be left to suffer the consequences of government policies and said the rulers would have to deliver their rights.
Rehman also welcomed the defence agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, describing it as a positive development for the Muslim world. He said closer cooperation among Islamic countries could lead to a strong bloc and reduce Pakistan's and the wider Muslim world's dependence on external powers.
He proposed expanding the defence cooperation to include Iran, Qatar, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, saying efforts should gradually be made to bring all Muslim countries into such a framework. He said Muslim countries should overcome their differences, strengthen mutual cooperation and build collective capacity to face regional and global challenges.
The meeting was attended by Acting Secretary General Nazir Ahmed Janjua, Vice Emirs Liaqat Baloch, Dr Usama Razi, Prof Ibrahim and Dr Ata-ur-Rehman; Deputy Secretaries Azhar Iqbal Hasan, Syed Waqas Jafri, Russell Khan Babar, Mumtaz Sehto, Sheikh Usman Farooq, Syed Firasat Shah and Abdul Haq Hashmi; Balochistan Gen Sec Murtaza Kakar, Sindh Gen Sec Muhammad Yousuf, North Punjab Emir Dr Tariq Saleem, Central Punjab Emir Muhammad Javed Qasuri, South Punjab Emir Syed Zeeshan Akhtar, Central KP Emir Abdul Wasi, North KP Emir Inayatullah Khan, Hazara Emir Abdul Razzaq Abbasi, Karachi Emir Munem Zafar, Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari Advocate, Islamabad Emir Nasrullah Randhawa, Special Assistant to the JI Emir Umair Idrees, Information Secretary Shakil Ahmed Turabi and JI Media Cell Director Salman Sheikh.