KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday launched the party’s long march from Karachi to Islamabad against the petroleum levy, saying the government had only one option left: provide relief to the people.
Addressing party workers and participants at Cantt Station, Hafiz Naeem said the protest movement would continue until the government withdrew what the JI describes as an “extortion” imposed through the petroleum levy.
The JI has gradually expanded its protest campaign to 42 cities across the country, while its sit-ins in provincial capitals completed 35 days on Saturday.
The party intensified its campaign after five rounds of negotiations with the federal government failed to produce an agreement. Hafiz Naeem has described the Islamabad long march as the “final call” in the campaign against the petroleum levy.
He said the first stop of the train march would be Hyderabad, from where participants would continue their journey towards Islamabad.
“The government itself is forcing people to protest,” Hafiz Naeem said, alleging that federal ministers participated in negotiations but failed to provide the relief demanded by the party.
He warned that if the petroleum levy was not withdrawn, the protest campaign would be intensified and could eventually turn into a movement seeking to bring down the government.
Hafiz Naeem said the JI was travelling to Islamabad not for itself but on behalf of the country’s people.
“We have no desire to protest in extreme heat,” he said, adding that people had been left with no other option.
The JI emir also criticised the government’s role in agreements with independent power producers, saying government representatives had been part of the arrangements.
According to a JI spokesperson, the protest train departed Karachi on Sunday and is scheduled to receive welcomes at Hyderabad, Tando Adam, Nawabshah and Mehrabpur railway stations.
Hafiz Naeem is scheduled to address a public gathering in Rohri at 8pm, after which the caravan will depart for Multan on September 21.
The JI emir will address participants in Multan at the conclusion of the train march.
A road caravan will then leave Multan for Lahore on September 22, while the final leg of the long march from Lahore to Islamabad is scheduled to begin on September 23.
Earlier on Friday, Hafiz Naeem said the march would reach Islamabad on September 23 and 24.
He said participants would begin arriving in Islamabad from all four directions from September 20, while maintaining that the party would not block roads.
The JI chief’s latest remarks came days after the party rejected the government’s special fuel relief scheme, arguing that the package could not replace the abolition of the petroleum levy.
He also criticised the absence of relief on diesel, saying diesel prices directly affect economic activity across the country.