KARACHI, Sindh: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ended its 35-day JI Karachi sit-in outside the Sindh Governor House on Saturday, shifting its campaign against the petroleum levy to a train march towards Islamabad.
Party workers will gather at Karachi Cantt Station on Sunday, September 20, where JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman is expected to address supporters before joining the train journey, according to the party’s announced programme.
The Karachi contingent is scheduled to travel through Multan and Lahore as part of a wider mobilisation from across Pakistan. Rehman said participants would begin moving towards Islamabad on September 20, with the main march expected to reach the federal capital around September 23-24.
JI has made withdrawal of the petroleum levy its central demand and has also raised objections to independent power producer agreements and other energy-related costs. The party has held protests and sit-ins in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and dozens of other locations since August.
Read: Jamaat-e-Islami Protests Planned at 510 Sites Across Pakistan
Addressing supporters in Karachi, Rehman warned that JI could expand its campaign into a movement to remove the government if the levy was not abolished. The statement represents the party leader’s political position, while the federal government has continued talks with JI over its economic demands.
JI has rejected the federal government’s recent fuel-relief measures as insufficient, arguing that temporary assistance does not replace a reduction in petroleum taxes and levies.
