Containers Can’t Stop JI’s Islamabad March: Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Tuesday said the JI would not surrender its constitutional and democratic right to hold a peaceful march on Islamabad, warning that government containers would not be able to stop people from reaching the capital.

Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq and a public gathering outside the Sindh Governor House, where a JI sit-in against the petroleum levy entered its 31st day, Rehman rejected the government’s recently announced petrol relief as a deception and demanded complete abolition of the levy.

He said the government was preparing to make people stand in queues for weekly distribution of relief instead of removing the levy that had increased the burden on consumers.

“Instead of abolishing the levy, the PML-N government wants to put people in queues,” he said, adding that the JI would announce an important strategy regarding its Islamabad march on September 17.

He said protests and sit-ins were continuing in around 40 cities and reiterated that the JI was the only political party actively struggling over what he described as genuine public issues.

The JI leader said the petroleum levy had no direct connection with the actual price of petrol and comprised an Rs80 levy, an Rs5 climate support levy and other taxes. Instead of increasing prices, he said, the government should have reduced these charges to provide meaningful relief.

The JI emir said the government had announced relief worth Rs25 billion for one month but questioned its practicality, noting that the petroleum dealers’ association had said the mechanism would be difficult to implement and had not been consulted.

He said the government had no option but to abolish the petroleum levy, arguing that the state could generate resources by cutting unnecessary expenditures and reducing interest payments.

Rehman said the Federal Board of Revenue was facing allegations of corruption involving Rs1.3 trillion and questioned why the government was reluctant to reduce interest rates. He said that a three-percentage-point reduction in interest rates could provide a direct benefit of around Rs1.7 trillion.

He said the government collected Rs1.567 trillion through the petroleum levy last year, while it was expected to pay around Rs8 trillion in interest on its debt. The government, he argued, should reduce its interest burden and use the savings to abolish the levy.

The JI Emir also criticised the government over excessive official spending, questioning the use of a government aircraft by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for attending her daughter’s graduation ceremony abroad.

He said public representatives should explain their expenditures and added that the government was unwilling to curtail its luxuries despite the economic difficulties faced by ordinary citizens.

The JI emir also criticised the government’s handling of local governments and rejected the Sindh government’s Local Government Amendment Bill 2026. He called for a separate constitutional framework for local governments and direct federal funding to ensure that elected local bodies did not remain dependent on provincial governments.

On political protests, he said the JI supported PTI’s constitutional and democratic right to protest, while noting that PTI had also supported the JI’s Islamabad march. He said the JI had launched its campaign against the petroleum levy and anti-people IPP agreements before PTI announced its September 27 protest.

Rehman reiterated that the JI would not withdraw from its planned peaceful Islamabad march and said the government should abolish the petroleum levy instead of introducing temporary measures.

JI Karachi Emir Munim Zafar and other leaders were also present.