Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has intensified pressure on the federal government by declaring a march on Islamabad scheduled for September 20 to protest the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL). He warned that unless the levy is abolished, the party’s protest campaign will escalate into a decisive phase.
Addressing a rally in Gujranwala on Friday, Rehman announced that JI supporters would converge on the capital in caravans from across Pakistan, urging the government to heed the growing public dissatisfaction. He cautioned that if the levy remains in place when the march begins, the people will take matters into their own hands on Islamabad’s streets. Rehman further threatened that failure to address public demands could compel JI to initiate a movement aimed at toppling the government.
Currently, the federal government levies Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. This announcement coincides with the 27th consecutive day of JI-led sit-ins against the levy in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, and numerous other cities. Rehman also revealed plans to expand the protests and mentioned that he would speak at a women’s gathering in Islamabad on Saturday.
Earlier, Rehman convened a meeting of JI leaders from across the country at Mansoorah in Lahore to strategize the next phase of the protest campaign. He portrayed JI as a rising political force, positioning the party as a beacon of hope for citizens disillusioned by successive governments.
He criticized the entrenched dominance of the bureaucracy, feudal landlords, and influential families over Pakistan’s political and economic systems, highlighting how ordinary workers suffer the most while children are forced into labor and deprived of education. Rehman also condemned the Punjab government for its handling of violence and exploitation against women, noting that although approximately 6,500 cases have been registered in the province, only a small fraction have resulted in convictions.
Rehman challenged Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to submit a full account of her income and expenditures to the Federal Board of Revenue, following her recent claim that she personally paid for a London trip on a government aircraft. He accused the Sharif and Zardari families of perpetuating the exploitation of the poor and asserted that over 40% of Punjab’s population lives in poverty.
Regarding the petroleum levy, Rehman stated that the government has collected Rs1,567 billion from the public through this charge. He questioned the justification for imposing what he termed a “jagga tax” while millions of Pakistanis still lack adequate healthcare and education. He also criticized governments since the 1990s for policies favoring independent power producers and argued that authorities should cut their own expenses rather than burden citizens with additional taxes.
Rehman further questioned the federal government’s continued budget allocations to departments and functions that were devolved to provinces under the 18th Amendment. He called for an end to interest-based financial practices, referencing a Federal Shariat Court ruling, and suggested that even a partial reduction in interest payments could save the national treasury thousands of billions of rupees.
The JI leader stated that these concerns were raised during talks with the government but no satisfactory responses were provided. He warned, “If the rulers cannot answer the people’s questions, the people will now demand those answers themselves.”
The party had announced on August 16 that it would hold sit-ins in all provincial capitals against the petroleum levy and later called for a nationwide strike on September 3.
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