KARACHI/LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) began its latest round of protests and sit-ins in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta on Sunday against the petroleum levy, increasing petroleum products prices and rising inflation.
The protests formed the next phase of the party’s nationwide campaign after demonstrations were held at hundreds of locations earlier this month.
In Karachi, JI workers marched from different areas of the city towards the Governor’s House. Thousands of Karachiites reached the protest venue despite roadblocks and teargas at the venue. They gathered near Masjid Khizra, close to the Sindh High Court, from different parts of the city and marched towards the Governor’s House under the leadership of JI Karachi chief Munim Zafar. They staged a sit-in outside the Governor’s House against the petroleum levy and rising fuel prices.
Police were deployed around the Governor’s House. Authorities said the road from Fawara Chowk towards the Press Club and Arts Council remained open to traffic.
Addressing the protesters from a makeshift stage on a truck outside the Governor’s House, JI Karachi chief Munim Zafar warned the Sindh government and police against using force to stop the sit-in. “If the government chooses the path of violence and force, it will be responsible for the consequences,” he said, insisting that the sit-in would continue.
He said the high price of petrol was affecting every citizen and every sector of the economy, saying that young people and students were effectively paying around Rs130 per litre in petroleum levy. “The JI’s sit-in is the voice of every young person, student and citizen,” he said.
Referring to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s earlier statements about resolving Karachi’s water crisis, he criticised the PM’s visit to the city, saying he had arrived with a large protocol convoy but failed to resolve its longstanding issues.
He said the JI would continue its campaign for the rights of Karachi’s residents and against what he termed an unjust system.
The protest was held on the appeal of JI Pakistan chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman as part of the party’s second phase of demonstrations against the petroleum levy and high petrol prices.
Munim Zafar said similar protests had begun outside governors’ houses in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while a sit-in was being held outside the Punjab Chief Minister’s House in Lahore.
“The heavy levy imposed in the name of petroleum levy must be withdrawn at all costs,” he said, adding what he called the “business” being carried out in the name of independent power producers (IPPs) must also end.
He also accused what he called the “Form 47 government” of protecting vested interests instead of addressing public problems.
In Lahore, JI workers continued their sit-in at Faisal Chowk [Charing Cross] on The Mall Road. The protesters had marched along The Mall before reaching Faisal Chowk near the Chief Minister’s House.
Punjab JI chief Javed Kasuri and other party leaders participated in the demonstration, while JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also reached the sit-in.
Addressing the protesters, Hafiz Naeem said the government was not only increasing petrol prices but also raising taxes. He described the petroleum levy as an “extortion tax” and “jagga tax” and questioned how many landlords associated with the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) had paid taxes on their agricultural lands. He also demanded that the government reduce the petrol price to Rs225 per litre. “Bring the price of petrol down to Rs225,” the JI Ameer said.
He said the feudal system would not continue, accusing landlords of exploiting poor farmers. “There is a group imposed on us,” he said, criticising what he described as the government’s economic policies.
The JI Ameer also said the salaried class had paid around Rs700 billion in taxes, while questioning the distribution of the tax burden across different sections of society.
The Lahore protest, led by JI Lahore Ameer Ziauddin Ansari Advocate, began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Protesters carrying JI flags and placards chanted slogans against the government and demanded immediate withdrawal of the petroleum levy.
In Peshawar, JI workers staged a sit-in outside the Governor’s House, leading to the closure of the road between Saddar and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Chowk. JI Deputy Ameer Liaquat Baloch was scheduled to address the protesters.
The party also organised a sit-in in Quetta as part of its simultaneous protests across the four provinces. JI leadership had previously announced demonstrations outside the Punjab Chief Minister’s House and the governors houses in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
