BATKHELA/CHARSADDA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday rejected the federal government’s announcement to provide relief to motorcyclists and small vehicles amid rising petrol prices, and said this won’t stop the party from marching on Islamabad.

“We are not asking for charity from the government, but for our constitutional right. This is just the beginning. Until the levy and extortion are abolished, we will continue the sit-ins and increase public pressure against the government,” he said while addressing a sit-in in Batkhela.

Thousands of people from Malakand district attended the sit-in that has been continuing for the last seven days.

JI leader Inayatullah Khan, former minister Shah Raz Khan, former MNA Bakhtiar Maani and others addressed the gathering.

Addresses participants of sit-in at Batkhela

Due to the sit-in in the main Batkhela Bazaar, the administration had closed the road from noon and diverted transporters to alternative routes. Despite this, the public still faced difficulties due to the road closure.

Mr Rehman said that even if the government placed containers everywhere to obstruct the people’s democratic right to protest, Jamaat would not stop.

“The sit-ins will continue, and the march towards Islamabad will also take place. If workers are stopped from exercising their democratic right, we will head towards Islamabad from all four sides. And when people come out from different parts of the country, it will become difficult for the government to control them,” he said.

He said that the relief given by the government for motorcycles, rickshaws and small vehicles was also the result of public struggle. However, he said that the real demand was the abolition of the petroleum levy and giving the people their constitutional right.

“The demand of Jamaat-i-Islami is not for any individual, family or party, but for the people,” he said.

He warned the government that if the petroleum levy was not abolished, the current movement would lead to the toppling of the government.

Criticising the country’s taxation system and the elite, he said that the burden of taxes was being placed on the poor while the ruling class was enjoying luxuries on national resources.

Mr Rehman alleged that the Sharif, Zardari and Tareen families have interests in various sectors, including sugar mills and IPPs, while a small class has occupied the resources of the large majority of the country.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami emir for central districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abdul Wasay on Sunday announced that the party would hold a “historic” long march on Islamabad on Sept 20 against the petroleum levy, inflation, power and gas loadshedding.

Speaking at a sit-in organised by the JI at Farooq Azam Chowk in Charsadda, Mr Wasay said the party would continue its protest movement until the government provided relief to the people and withdrew what he termed anti-people measures.

Members of Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba and students of Bacha Khan University also attended the protest.

Mr Wasay said sit-ins were currently underway in around 40 districts of the country. He said the Sept 20 march would be attended by workers, farmers, traders, political activists and people belonging to different sections of society.

JI district emir Shah Hussain Advocate, general secretary Fawad Ahmad, Misbahullah, Malik Sajjad, Haroon Khan and other leaders also addressed the gathering.

The speakers criticised the government for increasing the tax burden on the public while, according to them, failing to provide adequate relief or basic services.

They said rising inflation and prolonged power and gas loadshedding had made life increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2026