Jamaat-e-Islami Announces Nationwide Highway Blockade On August 7: Hafiz Naeemur Rehman Says Rs1.8 Trillion Annual Petroleum Levy Is “Economic Terrorism” And Warns The Government That Suppressing The Protest Will Turn It Into An Anti-Government Campaign
According to The Express Tribune, Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced on Tuesday, July 21, that the party would block major highways across all four provinces and district headquarters on August 7 in protest against inflation, the petroleum levy and rapidly rising fuel prices; warning that any government attempt to suppress the peaceful movement could transform it into a full-scale anti-government campaign.
Addressing a press conference at JI headquarters in Lahore’s Mansoorah, Rehman said the party would organise corner meetings, sit-ins and countrywide mobilisation activities before August 7. He stressed the protest would remain peaceful and ambulances would be allowed to pass.
Criticising the government’s switch to a daily fuel pricing mechanism, Rehman argued that the petroleum levy from which the government collects approximately Rs1.8 trillion annually, was unrelated to the Iran war being cited as justification for price hikes. He claimed that if the petroleum levy and other taxes were removed, petrol should cost no more than Rs250 per litre.
He described the levy as “economic terrorism” that disproportionately burdened motorcyclists, labourers and the middle class who fall outside the formal tax net.
Rehman also criticised Punjab’s health and education policies, called for IPP transparency over the electricity crisis, and demanded dialogue on Balochistan, stating JI would convene a grand national conference on the issue.
There is a straightforward arithmetic at the centre of JI’s demand. The government is raising fuel prices using the Iran war as cover. JI argues the petroleum levy; a fixed charge unrelated to international oil prices is what is actually making fuel unaffordable. Rs1.8 trillion per year from a tax that falls hardest on people who ride motorcycles to work is a difficult number to defend, regardless of what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz.
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