JI expands petrol levy protests across Sindh

Camps set up in Badin, Jacobabad; protests planned in Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas

KARACHI:

Following directives from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the party has expanded its protest campaign against the petroleum levy, describing it as an additional tax burden on the public.

Protest camps will be set up in Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Jacobabad, Badin and other cities and areas across Sindh in solidarity with sit-ins being held in Karachi outside Governor House and in the other three provincial capitals.

According to the JI Sindh, arrangements will also be made to screen Hafiz Naeem's address to the sit-in live at the protest camps.

On Sunday, protest camps were set up outside the press club in Badin and on Quaid-i-Azam Road in Jacobabad, where JI workers and citizens participated. Pamphlets highlighting the party's demands were distributed among participants.

Addressing the camps, Syed Ali Mardan Shah, Haji Didar Ali Lashari, Maulana Abdul Karim Buleedi and other party leaders demanded withdrawal of the petroleum levy.

They alleged that the rulers had pushed the country towards economic crisis through borrowing, interest-based financing and extravagant spending, while the public was already struggling with inflation, unemployment and heavy taxation.

They said the petroleum levy directly affected transport fares and the prices of food and other daily-use commodities, making life increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income households.

"If the rulers are unwilling to provide relief to the people and withdraw the levy on petroleum products, Jamaat-e-Islami will not retreat from its struggle for public rights," the leaders said.

JI Sindh emir Kashif Saeed Sheikh said the petroleum levy was effectively an "extortion tax" that was affecting every sector, particularly transport, and fuelling inflation.

He criticised what he called anti-people government policies, saying the burden of taxation should not continuously be shifted onto ordinary citizens.

"Instead of imposing more taxes on the people, the ruling elite should end their privileges, unnecessary expenditure and lavish lifestyles," he said.

Kashif said Hafiz Naeem had made it clear that sit-ins, marches and public resistance would continue until the petroleum levy was withdrawn.

He said that after Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, the protest campaign would now be expanded to Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Jacobabad, as well as towns, villages and other localities across Sindh.

The JI Sindh chief said the party would continue informing the people about the impact of the petroleum levy on inflation and how its burden was ultimately being borne by ordinary citizens.

He urged the people of Sindh to understand the objective of the ongoing protests and join the campaign for their rights.