Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Friday announced the party will stage a march on Islamabad on Sept. 20 to protest the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), warning the demonstrations will enter a “decisive phase” if the government does not end the tax.
Addressing a rally in Gujranwala, he said JI supporters from across the country would travel to Islamabad in caravans. “If the petroleum levy is still in place when the long march begins, the people will decide the matter on the streets of Islamabad,” he said, warning that continued resistance from the government will prompt the JI to launch a campaign aimed at ousting the government.
During his speech, Rehman said the JI would expand its ongoing sit-ins, nearing a month in several locations nationwide. He lamented that the country’s bureaucracy, feudal landlords and powerful families were dominating the political and economic system, even as children were being pushed into labor and denied access to education.
Criticizing the Punjab government over alleged violence and exploitation against women, he claimed around 6,500 cases had been registered but convictions remained lacking. He also challenged Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to submit a complete account of her income and expenditure to the Federal Board of Revenue after saying she had paid for a London trip on a government aircraft herself.
On the petroleum levy, he said the government had collected Rs. 1,567 billion from the public under its head thus far and questioned the rationale for it while millions of Pakistanis still lacked adequate access to healthcare and education.
Rehman further criticized successive governments since the 1990s for policies that he alleged had benefited independent power producers. Questioning the federal government’s continued budget allocations for departments and functions after the 18th Amendment transferred several powers to the provinces, he also called for an end to interest-based financial practices.
He maintained the JI had raised these issues during talks with the government but had received no satisfactory answers. “If the rulers cannot answer the people’s questions, the people will now demand those answers themselves,” he said.