National Struggle against Petroleum Levy
The movement against the petroleum levy is built around a simple question: when the state needs more revenue, why should the burden repeatedly fall on people every time they fill a motorcycle, rickshaw, car, bus or truck? The petroleum levy is now a major component of federal revenue, with the 2026-27 budget projecting around Rs1.68 trillion from it.
Its impact, however, does not stop at the petrol pump. Higher fuel costs travel through transport fares, freight charges, food distribution, business expenses and household budgets, meaning that workers, salaried families, small businesses and lower-income consumers feel the pressure across the economy. Jamaat-e-Islami has therefore framed the issue not simply as a demand for another temporary reduction in petrol prices, but as a broader question of who should bear the cost of Pakistan’s fiscal problems. Its position is that meaningful relief should come through reducing the petroleum levy, cutting unnecessary government expenditure and privileges, improving fiscal management and shifting the burden away from ordinary citizens.
The federal government has instead favoured targeted fuel relief, citing limited fiscal space and the importance of petroleum-levy revenues, while JI has maintained that limited subsidies do not address the underlying problem. This difference has shaped the movement: JI has combined public mobilisation with economic proposals, regulatory and legal engagement, and repeated negotiations with the government, while keeping abolition of the petroleum levy at the centre of its campaign. Government-JI discussions on fuel pricing and relief have also formally taken place at the Petroleum Division.
25th Sept Lahore Demonstration
Jamaat-e-Islami held a large public demonstration in Lahore on 25th September as part of its continuing campaign against the petroleum levy and rising fuel costs. Addressing the gathering, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said the movement has not ended and warned that the Long March towards Islamabad could resume if the government fails to provide meaningful relief. He reiterated JI’s demand for the abolition of the petroleum levy, lower fuel prices, reduced government expenditure, and relief for ordinary families already struggling with inflation, electricity bills and other rising costs.
The demonstration was a part of series of action items that JI has taken in terms of its march been halted in Multan until the first week of
From 4 April to Multan
How the movement grew from the first protests into a nationwide campaign
On 4 April 2026, Jamaat-e-Islami began its countrywide protest campaign against the unprecedented increase in petroleum prices. At that time, most of the public discussion was confined to the latest price increase. Jamaat-e-Islami raised the deeper question: how much of the price paid at the petrol pump represented the actual cost of fuel, and how much was being taken by the government through levies, taxes and other charges?
What began with demonstrations against the fuel-price shock gradually developed into a national movement against the petroleum levy, inflation and the transfer of government failures to ordinary citizens.
During the months that followed, Jamaat-e-Islami organised nationwide demonstrations, approached the Federal Constitutional Court, staged peaceful sit-ins at 510 locations, maintained prolonged protest camps in more than 40 cities, organised a nationwide shutter-down strike, presented detailed economic proposals, participated in five rounds of negotiations and finally launched the Super Long March from Karachi towards Islamabad.
The march has now reached Multan.
At the prime minister’s personal request, Jamaat-e-Islami has extended the timeline for the Islamabad phase until the first week of October. The movement has not been withdrawn. Protest camps and sit-ins continue, and the march will resume if the government fails to provide meaningful relief.
The demand remains unchanged:
Abolish the petroleum levy and reduce the burden on the people.