Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Tuesday said his party would march to Islamabad in protest of the petroleum levy in mid-November if the government did not announce any major relief by then.
He made the announcement during a press conference in Islamabad, which came shortly after he met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss his demand to abolish the petroleum levy.
“We want to make it clear that we will not postpone our Islamabad march any longer. It will now take place in mid-November, and it certainly will take place,” the JI chief said.
He added, “Let them announce this package, provide this relief, and devise a mechanism to abolish this extortionate levy before that, [but] if they do not do so, we might have to sit on the road to talk.
“We are prepared for anything,” Rehman declared.
Asked about the outcome of his meeting with PM Shehbaz — offered by the latter when urging the party to postpone its Islamabad march — the JI emir refrained from terming it “inconclusive”.
He noted that two sides had consensus on expanding the scope of relief, but there were disagreements over the “modalities” and “procedure”.
“We say eliminate the levy; they say we can move towards it phase by phase,” Rehman elaborated.
At around 4pm, a post on JI’s account said Rehman had reached PM House, accompanied by a delegation including the party’s Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch, Deputy Secretary General Syed Farasat Shah, and JI Islamabad Emir Nasrullah Randhawa.
Rehman told the media that JI was forming another committee on the matter, comprising Baloch, Shah and Randhawa.
“We cannot simply accept peanuts,” the JI chief said when asked about a reported government offer to reduce the levies by Rs20-30. He stressed that his party stood firm on its stance.
He maintained that JI would continue its preparations and would begin nationwide mobilisation for its planned march to the federal capital, while negotiations would also continue at the same time.
“Our preparations are already complete; we will prepare further [and] we will talk to them (the government) further. However, we will also hold the Islamabad march in mid-November,” Rehman said.
Asked whether JI had presented any alternative to abolishing the levy, he responded in the affirmative, asserting that his party had comprehensive preparations.
Rehman highlighted that all past governments vowed not to take loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but then entered into programmes with it after coming into power.
He said his party pointed this out, adding, “Give relief to the people; do not take retribution for your incompetence from the nation.”
Providing details of his party’s demands, the JI chief said it had also raised the issue of refineries’ margins increasing as well when oil prices rose in the international market.
“That should have decreased, people should have gotten relief,” he said.
Rehman acknowledged that JI was aware of the fluctuations in international oil prices due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, but “we want relief to be provided to the people in this regard as well, and this levy should also be abolished alongside”.
He went on to claim credit for the relief scheme launched by the government in mid-September. “If Jamaat-i-Islami was not protesting, do you think this relief package would have come?”
Rehman further said, “We have restrained them a little by continuing to push, by taking a stand, stepping onto the field and protesting; otherwise, it is easy money that you just take advantage of this opportunity.”
The JI emir recalled that in April, the government had hiked the levy on petrol to Rs160 per litre from Rs105, but widespread criticism prompted it to reduce the levy by Rs80.
“It is JI that has raised awareness, protested, and built pressure,” he claimed.
JI’s protests so far
The JI has been demanding for over two months that the Centre abolish petroleum levies, as fuel prices have skyrocketed due to conflicts in the Middle East since March.
The Centre and JI had agreed to form committees in early September — when the latter had planned a nationwide strike — to recommend measures to reduce the levy.
Rehman on Monday warned that the party would march to Islamabad in mid-November if the premier did not abolish the petroleum levy.
On Aug 16, the JI announced sit-ins in all the provincial capitals of Pakistan against the petroleum levy and had called for a nationwide strike on Sept 3.
On Sept 20, the party launched a protest march towards Islamabad, warning that if the government failed to abolish the petroleum levy, the protest could turn into one to oust the government.
On Sept 22, the JI emir said his party, whose convoy had reached Multan, was postponing its long march at the request of PM Shehbaz, who had assured the other side of a meeting to discuss the matters.
However, in a press release issued last week, the party alleged that the government had made no further contact regarding the planned meeting.