LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Friday announced a new phase of the party’s nationwide campaign against the petroleum levy, declaring that sit-ins would be staged on Sunday (tomorrow) outside the Governor Houses in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and outside the Punjab Chief Minister’s House.
Addressing a sit-in at Lahore’s Qartaba Chowk, he said the government should understand that Friday’s demonstrations at around 510 locations across the country were merely a rehearsal. He vowed that after a one-day break, protesters would gather at all four provincial headquarters and would not disperse until the petroleum levy was abolished.
Rejecting the levy as extortion in the name of taxation, he said the “Form-47-imposed rulers” were burdening the public while those rejected by the people were now admitting the failure of the system.
JI Deputy emir Dr Usama Razi, Lahore emir Ziauddin Ansari and Azhar Bilal also addressed the sit-in.
The protest caused a traffic gridlock in areas around Qartaba Chowk, causing massive jams on various roads and even in the streets in the downtown.
People returning home from their workplaces in the evening faced a great deal of inconvenience as traffic remained blocked in already congested areas, including Lytton Road, Mozang, Abid Market, Fane Road, Queen’s Road and Bahawalpur Road etc.
Given the volume of the traffic, wardens were seen watching the traffic mess helplessly or browsing their mobile phones.
The party said protests were also held across Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, with demonstrations disrupting traffic on several major roads, including sections of the National Highway, Indus Highway, Hazara Motorway, Swat Motorway and the Pak-Afghan Highway. It claimed that emergency vehicles were allowed to pass.
JI leaders addressing the gatherings accused the government of placing an excessive financial burden on people through petroleum levy, while failing to pass on the benefit of lower international oil prices.
Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026
