JI Announces Simultaneous Sit-ins in Provincial Capitals on August 16 to Protest Petroleum Levy

LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI) 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 press the government to withdraw the levy.

The decision was taken after extensive deliberations at a special meeting of JI’s central and provincial office-bearers, chaired by party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman at Mansoora on Saturday.

Rehman said the sit-ins would be staged outside the Punjab chief minister’s house in Lahore and the governor houses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

Under the plan, the JI and its youth and women’s wings will participate in Independence Day activities on August 14, using the occasion to mobilise people around the party’s vision of a just system.

The JI chief added that the previous day’s nationwide protest had given the party’s campaign against the petroleum levy and inflation a new direction and fresh momentum; and that over 510 organised and peaceful protests were held across the country, with people from across Pakistan participating.

He said the protests had demonstrated that the JI was “becoming a symbol of national unity”, as people from Chitral, Malakand, Hazara and central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, among others, had raised their voices against the petroleum levy.

The JI chief added that the public had rejected the levy and wanted petrol prices reduced to Rs225 per litre. Rehman accused the ruling elite of pushing ordinary citizens into an unbearable inflationary crisis while refusing to cut their own privileges and expenditures.

The party chief also claimed the rulers were “unwilling to give up official aircraft, reduce government vehicle expenses or end perks such as free fuel and electricity”, while students, motorcyclists, workers and farmers were being burdened with indirect taxes on petroleum products.

“Even people whose incomes were below the taxable threshold were effectively being taxed through fuel prices,” he added.

Key Claims

  • JI has decided to stage simultaneous sit-ins in all four provincial capitals on August 16 to press the government to withdraw the petroleum levy.
  • The previous day’s nationwide protest involved over 510 organised and peaceful protests across the country.
  • The JI chief accused the ruling elite of pushing citizens into an inflationary crisis while refusing to cut their own privileges and expenditures.
  • JI has demanded that petrol prices be reduced to Rs225 per litre.

Perspectives

Government's Viewpoint

The government has not yet responded publicly to the JI’s announcement. However, the JI chief’s allegations about the government’s spending and the petroleum levy remain unaddressed.

JI's Viewpoint

JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman described the petroleum levy as “extortion” rather than a tax, claiming that the government was collecting Rs125 in taxes on every litre of petrol from ordinary citizens while continuing lavish spending on luxury aircraft and expensive official vehicles. “Enough is enough,” he said.

Rehman argued that petroleum prices had been increased by citing global market conditions during regional conflicts but were not reduced after international crude oil prices fell to $74 per barrel.

“The government had collected Rs8 trillion through the petroleum levy without investing any of it in upgrading oil refineries or petroleum infrastructure,” he alleged.

“The economy can recover if the government abolishes the petroleum levy,” Rehman asserted.

The JI chief said the ruling coalition was disconnected from the hardships faced by ordinary Pakistanis, adding that women were also participating in the protests.

Related Developments

Earlier, on Thursday, JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced peaceful sit-ins against the petroleum levy at 510 locations across the country on Friday, warning that the protests would transform into a movement to overthrow the government if authorities attempted to stop them.

Addressing a protest rally by the JI Women’s Wing on Wahdat Road in Lahore against rising petroleum prices and inflation, Rehman said major roads linking districts across Pakistan would be blocked from 4pm onwards; however, ambulances would be allowed to pass without interruption.

“If obstacles are created or our peaceful protest against the petroleum levy is blocked, this campaign will turn into an anti-government movement,” he said.