Jamaat-i-Islami launched an Islamabad-bound protest from Karachi on September 20 as part of its campaign demanding the withdrawal of Pakistan’s petroleum levy.
JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman addressed supporters at Karachi’s Cantonment Station before departing. Dawn reported that the party’s train march was planned to pass through locations including Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Rohri and Sukkur on its way toward Islamabad.
The protest follows inconclusive talks between JI and the government over the levy and the party’s planned mobilisation.
JI focuses protest on fuel taxation
JI argues that the petroleum levy is worsening pressure on households already facing high living costs. The party has been holding protests and sit-ins as part of a wider campaign against the charge.
Naeem said the Islamabad mobilisation was intended to press the government to abolish the levy and framed the campaign around relief for lower-income Pakistanis.
These are JI’s political arguments. The government has not agreed to abolish the levy and has sought to persuade the party to delay its march amid security concerns.
Dawn reported that government-JI talks before the march ended without agreement, with JI maintaining that the mobilisation would remain necessary unless the levy was withdrawn.
A second mobilisation toward Islamabad
The JI action is separate from PTI’s planned September 27 march, but the two campaigns create overlapping political pressure on the federal capital.
PTI’s mobilisation is centred on Imran Khan’s release and other political demands, while JI’s current campaign is focused on the petroleum levy and cost-of-living pressure.
Islamabad authorities have been preparing security measures around the planned protests. A court order has also barred political parties from blocking roads in the name of protest, according to Dawn.
The JI march therefore adds another test for the government: managing a protest focused on fuel taxation while simultaneously trying to prevent a separate PTI mobilisation scheduled for the following week.
Sources
- Dawn — JI launches train march towards Islamabad against petroleum levy
- Dawn — Opposition parties adamant on capital march despite government pleas