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JI launches protest march towards Islamabad against petroleum levy
Dawn, Pakistan
Published: 20 Sep 2026, 07:27 PM
Jamaat-i-Islami leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman addresses supporters at Karachi’s Cantonment Station before departing for Islamabad on 20 September 2026. Photo: Dawn
Naeem was addressing JI supporters at Karachi’s Cantonment
Station before departing for Islamabad.
“In line with our strategy, people from across the country
have departed for Islamabad,” he said, adding that a road caravan had also
departed for the federal capital in addition to the “train march”.
He said the rally would pass through Hyderabad, Landhi,
Nawabshah, Rohri and Sukkur, adding that “we will invite our sisters to join us
once we reach [Islamabad]”.
Rehman said the purpose of the march was to help relieve the
burden on the least privileged.
“Instead of providing relief to the people, the government
has decided that it would make the nation pay for its bad governance,” he
added. “We demand that the levy extortion should end. Petrol prices would then
reduce quickly and reach around Rs200 per litre. That’s when the economy could
move forward.”
He said that the government had increased petrol prices more
than any other state in the region. “The government wants to rob the common
people in times of crisis,” Naeem claimed.
The JI emir said voicing complaints on social media was pointless, urging supporters to step out of their houses to protest the injustice.
“For the past 36-37 days, nationwide protests have been
ongoing,” he said, adding that protests were currently under way in Hyderabad,
Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Larkana, Naushahro Feroze, Rawalpindi, Gujrat and various
cities of KP.
“JI has mobilised entire Pakistan,” he said. “No hindrances
can stop the protesters.”
“When we reach Islamabad, it’s not guaranteed that the
situation would remain under control,” Rehman warned. If the government tried
to suppress the movement, the situation would get out of control, he said.
On Saturday, a government delegation, including PML-N
leaders Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, and Salman Rafique, called on the JI
leadership at its Mansoorah headquarters in Lahore, but the meeting failed to
break the deadlock.
During the talks, the government delegation asked the JI to
postpone the long march in view of security threats. However, JI leader Liaquat
Baloch said the long march would remain necessary until the levy imposed on the
public was withdrawn.
Talks between the JI and the government began on 7 Sept. The
party has been staging regular sit-ins in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and dozens
of other locations across the country since 16 August to protest the levy.
Meanwhile, PTI is also scheduled to stage its protest in the
capital on 27 Sept for the release of Imran Khan, among other demands.
It also turned down the government’s request to postpone the
march, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said a day earlier.