Jamaat-e-Islami announces 25 Karachi protest camps from Saturday

Jamaat-e-Islami will establish more than 25 protest camps across Karachi from Saturday, JI Karachi chief Munim Zafar announced at a press conference on Friday. The demonstrations are aimed at forcing the government to withdraw the petroleum levy and to press K-Electric to end prolonged load-shedding in the city.

Zafar described the petroleum levy as an “extortion tax” and said it was pushing up inflation and the cost of living. He claimed the government collected Rs1,566 billion through the levy in the last financial year and that a motorcyclist using about one litre of petrol a day pays around Rs131. He said Pakistan has about 25 million motorcycle users.

The JI leader said workers, farmers and motorcyclists were bearing the levy’s burden, and that food, rent, electricity bills and children’s education had become harder to afford. He called for the levy’s immediate withdrawal.

On power, Zafar accused K-Electric of collective punishment, saying some areas of Karachi face up to 18 hours of load-shedding. He said only 2 to 3 percent of consumers were not paying electricity bills, and K-Electric should pursue those non-payers rather than cut supply to entire neighbourhoods. He demanded government intervention.

He welcomed the government’s decision to terminate agreements with five independent power producers but said consumers were still being charged for capacity when plants were not generating. He called for measures to end load-shedding and provide relief.

According to Geo News, the announcement came days after JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman suspended the party’s march toward Islamabad at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s request, with a sit-in continuing in Multan. The Express Tribune reported that K-Electric did not show for a Sindh Assembly committee meeting a day earlier, deepening lawmakers’ anger. Zafar also said the party had earlier blocked roads at 710 locations and held nationwide sit-ins on August 16.