GUJRANWALA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Friday announced that the party would march towards Islamabad on September 20 against the petroleum levy, warning the government that the protest would enter its “decisive phase” on the streets of the federal capital if the levy was not withdrawn before the march.

Addressing a public gathering in Gujranwala, Rehman said caravans from across the country would converge on Islamabad and urged the “Form-47 rulers” to “read the writing on the wall” and provide immediate relief to the people.

“If the petroleum levy is not abolished before the long march begins, the decision will be made on the streets of Islamabad,” he said, adding that failure to meet public demands would force the JI to launch a movement to bring down the government.

The government levies Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

The gathering was also addressed by JI Central Punjab Emir Javed Qasuri, Gujranwala Emir Mazhar Randhawa and other party leaders. Leaders of the JI Women’s Wing also attended the event.

The JI’s sit-ins against the petroleum levy in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and dozens of other locations across the country entered their 27th day on Friday.

Rehman also announced that he would address a women’s public gathering in Islamabad on Saturday and said the ongoing sit-ins would be expanded.

Earlier, he chaired a meeting of party leaders from across the country at Mansoorah in Lahore, where the party discussed the next phase of its protest movement.

Speaking in Gujranwala, Rehman said the JI had emerged as a source of hope for the people and added that rulers who had deprived the country of its rights for 79 years had now realised the party’s growing strength.

He criticised the dominance of bureaucracy, feudal landlords and influential families in the country and said the working class was suffering while children were being forced into labour and deprived of education.

The JI leader also criticised the provincial government over cases of violence and exploitation against women, alleging that around 6,500 such cases had been registered in Punjab but convictions had been secured in only a few.

He challenged Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to provide the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with a complete account of her income and expenditure after her recent remarks about travelling to London on a government aircraft at her own expense.

The JI chief alleged that the Sharif and Zardari families were among those responsible for the exploitation of poor people and added that more than 40 per cent of Punjab’s population was living in poverty.

Rehman also criticised the government over petroleum levy collections, claiming Rs1,567 billion had been collected from the public under the levy. He questioned why the government was imposing “jagga tax” on citizens while basic healthcare and education remained inaccessible to millions.

He said successive governments since the 1990s had benefited independent power producers (IPPs), questioning why rulers were collecting additional taxes from citizens instead of reducing their own expenditures.

Rehman also questioned the federal government’s continued budget allocations after the 18th Amendment transferred several powers and departments to the provinces.

He further called for an end to interest-based financial practices, citing a ruling by the Federal Shariat Court, and said even a partial reduction in interest payments could save the national exchequer thousands of billions of rupees.

The party chief said the JI had raised these issues during talks with the government but added that the authorities had failed to provide satisfactory answers.

“If the rulers have no answers, the people will now demand answers from them,” he said.

On August 16, the JI announced sit-ins in all the provincial capitals of Pakistan against the petroleum levy.

It had also called a nationwide strike on September 3.