Jamaat-e-Islami threatens mid-November Islamabad march over petroleum levy

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan will march on Islamabad in the middle of November if the government does not abolish the petroleum levy and give relief to the public, the party's ameer, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, said at a press conference at Mansoorah, according to a report by Express News.

He said the burden of taxes on ordinary people was rising while the profits of "mafias" were growing. The relief the government gave in petroleum prices after the party's protest was not enough, he said, and the demand to scrap the petroleum levy stood.

Rehman said ministers had again contacted the JI's committee, but the party was holding to its position. If a meeting with the prime minister produced progress on relief, he would make an important announcement the same evening, he said.

He proposed helping the public by cutting the profits and margins of oil refineries and oil marketing companies, and urged the government to take steps to end interest and to reduce the policy rate. Anger among the public was growing because of government policies, he said, and the protest would continue until people received relief.

He also condemned the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as described in the Express News report, calling it a violation of human rights and demanding that it be lifted.

Turning to the courts, Rehman said millions of cases were pending, that the 26th constitutional amendment had weakened the judicial system further, and that extrajudicial killings would not repair the system. He said the government had no clear policy for giving relief to the people.

On Palestine, he said Israeli destruction in Gaza had caused food shortages while world powers and Muslim countries were not playing an effective role. He asked Muslim rulers what steps they were taking to help Palestinians, and called for an effective global voice for Palestinians and unity among Muslim countries.

The UrduPoint report on the press conference quoted him as saying the party had shown patience for a long time, that the public was also pressing it, and that the media was questioning it as well. Neither report gave a specific date in November for a march, and no response from the government to the demand was available.