The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday commenced sit-ins outside governors’ houses of all four provinces, demanding a reduction in the prices of fuel products through the withdrawal of the petroleum development levy (PDL).
Initially announced for Aug. 9, the JI deferred its demonstrations until Aug. 16 in deference to Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 14.
In Punjab capital Lahore, JI workers marched to the Chief Minister’s House before setting up camp at Charing Cross on Mall Road. The demonstration prompted traffic disruptions on Mall Road, with diversions from Regal Chowk to Faisal Chowk.
During the protest, the party demanded the withdrawal of taxes on petrol, alleging the lower-income segments of society are paying the share of landlords and feudal elements.
JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman lamented the government cited pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when questioned about the levies and taxes imposed on the public. He maintained the protest was not against any particular political party but rather the injustice inflicted on ordinary people. “Our issue is … the oppression of the common people,” he said, vowing to continue the protest until all demands are met, particularly reducing the price of petrol to Rs. 225/liter.
Rehman said the JI would only consider talks with the government if the petroleum levy was withdrawn. “We are ready for a prolonged sit-in,” he said, adding any attempt to disperse the gathering could transform it into a movement aimed to ousting the incumbent government.
“[Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif and [Punjab Chief Minister] Maryam Nawaz, and those who have placed them over us, should listen: this is not governance,” he said.
Meanwhile, the JI’s Peshawar sit-in announced an initial protest plan for 15 days, adding separate program would be conducted for women, lawyers, farmers, traders and people from different sections of society.
JI central deputy emir Liaquat Baloch said the protest was against “extortion” through taxes on petroleum products. He also slammed the “hybrid system” of governance, maintaining it undermined the public mandate. He further criticized the closure of the Pak-Afghan border, regretting it had created difficulties for traders. He stressed on the need for a change in the existing “system,” alleging the ideological foundations of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been weakened.
In Karachi, the protesters faced blockades from containers, echoing calls for an end to taxes on fuel products. Demanding abolition of the levy, the demonstration also criticized the murder of Mir Raza, questioning who police were protecting.