POL levy: JI vows nationwide protest

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Tuesday said his party's campaign against the petroleum levy had turned into a nationwide movement, announcing a strike across the country, including Hyderabad, on Sept 3.

Addressing a sit-in against the petroleum levy at Haider Chowk in Hyderabad, Hafiz Naeem said the government had made life increasingly difficult for the common man, describing the levy as an unjust burden on people's pockets.

He said Jamaat-e-Islami was waging the campaign not for its own interests but to protect the rights of the poor. Sit-ins against the petroleum levy, independent power producers (IPPs) and inflation in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar had entered their 17th day, while protests were also under way in Quetta, Chitral, Islamabad, Faisalabad and parts of interior Sindh.

The JI chief said the Sept 3 strike would serve as a "writing on the wall" for the rulers, after which the party would announce its next course of action, including the possibility of a long march towards Islamabad. The JI has been protesting against inflated fuel prices for the last two weeks.