JI says will hold nationwide protest against petroleum levy tomorrow

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has said the time has come for a decisive public struggle against petroleum levy, asserting that the nationwide protest on Friday (tomorrow), would become a historic display of people’s power.

In a statement issued from Mansoorah on Wednesday, Rehman said millions of people would come out of their homes, stage sit-ins on key highways and block inter-district roads to compel the government to provide relief to the public.

He said preparations for the nationwide protest campaign had entered the final phase, with JI leaders and workers across the country actively mobilising the public through corner meetings, awareness campaigns and extensive outreach. The movement, he said, was not driven by political interests but aimed at defending the rights of ordinary Pakistanis burdened by soaring inflation, unemployment and unbearable taxation.

The JI chief announced that he would address a major protest rally organised by the JI Women chapter on Lahore’s Wahdat Road on August 6 against the petroleum levy. He said women would also raise their voices against government’s anti-people economic policies.

Appealing to the youth, Rehman urged motorcyclists to come onto the roads on August 7 and peacefully block major highways by parking their motorcycles as part of the protest. He stressed that the demonstrations would remain peaceful and that only ambulances and emergency service vehicles would be allowed to pass.

He warned the government against creating obstacles to the people’s constitutional and democratic right to peaceful protest, saying any attempt to suppress the movement would be the sole responsibility of the authorities.

The Jamaat-e-Islami emir also directed party office-bearers to further intensify public mobilisation ahead of the protest by engaging religious scholars, traders, lawyers, students, labourers, farmers, civil society representatives and people from all walks of life.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026