JI threatens countrywide shutdown, march on Islamabad

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Monday announced plans to turn the ongoing sit-ins against the petroleum levy into a broader nationwide public movement, warning the government that failure to meet JI’s demands could lead to a countrywide shutdown and a march on Islamabad.

“This is not a protest for a few days. We have not come here to leave,” Rehman said while addressing a sit-in outside the Punjab Chief Minister’s House in Lahore. He warned that if the government refused to abolish the petroleum levy and provide relief on fuel and electricity prices, JI could mobilise people across the country and march towards the capital. He also announced that women would join the Lahore sit-in from Tuesday (today).

The protests against the petroleum levy, expensive electricity, independent power producer (IPP) agreements and privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite entered their second day in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. He said thousands of people participated despite the intense heat, with protesters raising slogans demanding an end to the levy and relief from inflation.

Addressing the Lahore gathering, Rehman said voices for truth and justice were now being heard across all four provinces.

Rehman told a news conference earlier on Monday and warned the government that the party would not leave streets until its demands, including the abolition of the petroleum levy, were met.

He said the protests in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar represented the grievances of Pakistan’s 250 million people.

Responding to the government’s offer of negotiations, Rehman said the JI would not travel to Islamabad to meet a government committee. “Those who want to talk should come here,” he said, promising that the party would receive them with respect.

He said the government was passing the burden of its economic failures on to ordinary citizens.

He also criticised the bureaucracy, saying officials must stop treating themselves as rulers. The JI leader also criticised the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), saying annual corruption in the FBR was exceeding around Rs1.3 trillion.

A JI press release said sit-in against the petroleum levy, high electricity tariffs and costly agreements with the independent power producers (IPPs) entered its second day on Monday. Despite the humidity and heat, a large number of party activists gathered at the Charing Cross after spending the previous night on The Mall.

They continued chanting slogans against the government, with national and party flags flying over the protest site. Similar sit-ins continued outside the Governor Houses in Karachi and Peshawar. The protesters are demanding a reduction in petrol prices to Rs225 per litre, withdrawal of the petroleum levy and cheaper electricity.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026