Govt Delegation Meets JI Ahead of Islamabad March
A government delegation met Jamaat‑i‑Islami in Lahore’s Mansoorah area to discuss the petroleum levy before the party’s planned march to Islamabad. The meeting, held on Saturday night, brought together Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah and Provincial Minister Khawaja Salman Rafiq, who were received by JI Deputy Emir Liaqat Baloch. The delegation’s arrival came as the JI intensified sit‑ins across the country, demanding the abolition of the Rs114 per litre petrol levy and Rs100 per litre diesel levy that the government has imposed.
During the talks, JI Acting Secretary General Nazir Ahmad Janjua and other senior leaders reiterated that the party would not call off its march unless the government agreed to a concrete proposal for eliminating the levy. JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned that the protest caravans would begin moving toward Islamabad on September 20, and that the party would pursue a peaceful demonstration while urging the authorities not to use force. The government, citing a recent Islamabad High Court ruling, has pledged to prevent rallies that disrupt traffic and normal life in the capital, but it has also introduced austerity measures that cut fuel provision for official vehicles by 50% for three months.
The JI’s campaign has highlighted broader economic grievances, including high fuel costs, corruption, and excessive official expenditure. Rehman accused the government of using the International Monetary Fund as a pretext to withhold relief, while calling for a reduction in interest rates and greater autonomy for the State Bank of Pakistan. He also criticized the government’s payments to independent power producers and regasification plants, arguing that these expenditures were unnecessary amid gas shortages. The JI’s protest movement, now in its 35th day, has held sit‑ins in 42 cities and claims that the issue has become a national concern. The government’s response to the JI’s demands remains uncertain, but the meeting in Mansoorah marks a significant attempt to resolve the dispute before the planned march to Islamabad.
