Jamaat-e-Islami staged sit-ins in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities for a second consecutive day, protesting against the petroleum levy, inflation and utility bills (Geo News).
The levy figures explain why the campaign is not subsiding. In the latest review on Thursday the government raised the levy on diesel by another rupee to Rs77.28 a litre, while keeping petrol at Rs80 and kerosene at Rs20.36.
That is a levy of roughly Rs80 on a litre of petrol currently retailing around Rs325 — close to a quarter of the pump price before any other tax. The diesel levy has now risen four times in under two weeks: from Rs70.82 to Rs72.26, then Rs73.47, and now Rs77.28.
Party emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman told the Lahore sit-in that the peaceful protests in all four provinces marked the beginning of a protest movement and that JI would intensify them. “The JI has devised a strategy for the sit-ins,” he said, expressing satisfaction with the turnout.
In Karachi, at the sit-in outside Governor House, JI Karachi women’s wing leader Javed Fahim said the rulers claimed the country could not run without imposing the petroleum levy and taxes.
The party has demanded petrol at Rs225 a litre and the abolition of the levy, and has warned the campaign could escalate into a broader anti-government movement. Police blocked the Karachi sit-in from reaching Governor House on Monday, closing approach roads with containers.
The levy raised a record Rs1.567 trillion in 2025-26, up 29 per cent, and underpinned a fiscal deficit of 2.6 per cent of GDP — the lowest since FY03. The government has separately assured goods transporters that fuel prices will be revised fortnightly or monthly rather than daily, an undertaking that has not been notified.
