Petrol levy, inflation: JI continues its sit-in for fourth consecutive day

KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) sit-in outside the Governor House in Karachi continued for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday against the petroleum levy, taxes, inflation and what the party described as “public-hostile” agreements with independent power producers (IPPs).

A women’s protest was held outside the Governor House in the afternoon, with women from across the city attending. Addressing the gathering, JI Karachi Chief Monem Zafar Khan said no movement in which women and young children took part could be defeated. He said the petroleum levy was only one part of the wider injustice faced by the people.

“Petrol levy, taxes and inflation are not just issues of the Jamaat-i-Islami; they are issues concerning 250 million people,” he said.

He said media workers, young people, women, students, labourers and farmers were all suffering because of inflation and rising costs.

Monem Zafar said Rs 130 per litre was being collected from consumers in the form of “bhathha” (extortion), and said the sit-in would continue until the party’s demands were accepted.

He announced that JI Pakistan chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman would join the sit-in on Friday, Aug 21, and urged women to attend the protest with their families. The JI leader said Rs 1,566 billion had been collected from ordinary citizens as petroleum levy during the previous fiscal year.

“The rulers say IMF loans have to be repaid, while the people are struggling to keep their stoves burning. Yet there is no end to the rulers’ lavish spending,” he said, adding that every child born in Pakistan was burdened with a debt of around Rs 300,000.

JI Karachi deputy chief and KMC opposition leader Saifuddin Advocate said the ongoing protests had added “a new chapter” to the party’s history of public mobilization. Showing concerns about the delay in the Bus Rapid Transit project on University Road, he said that the road had not been restored despite an earlier announcement that it would be reopened by July 31.

JI Sindh women’s wing chief Rakhshanda Muneeb said women were compelled to protest because electricity, gas and water were unavailable in many homes despite the regular arrival of heavily taxed utility bills. She also criticized the lack of dignified public transport facilities for women in Sindh.

JI Karachi women’s wing chief Jawadan Faheem said women would continue to stand with their male counterparts in the struggle for people’s rights and against injustice. Responding to a recent claim by Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari that JI protests were attended mainly by seminary students, she invited her to visit the Karachi sit-in, saying doctors, lawyers, teachers and working women were among the participants.

During the men’s session of the sit-in, JI Sindh deputy chief and New Karachi Town chairman Mohammad Yousuf, provincial deputy chief Altaf Mallah, South district chief Sufyan Dilawar and North district secretary Shakeel Ahmed also addressed the participants.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026