LOWER DIR: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North emir and former senior provincial minister Inayatullah Khan has urged the provincial government to abolish sales tax on services and other provincial taxes in Malakand division, saying such a move would demonstrate its commitment to protecting the region’s special tax-free status.

Addressing a press conference at Ahya-ul-Uloom Balambat here the other day, he said all political parties, traders’ organisations and civil society groups in Malakand division were united against imposition of taxes and had developed a consensus on the issue.

Among those present were JI deputy provincial emir Arshad Zaman, district emir Maulana Asadullah, divisional information secretary Engineer Hafiz Yaqoobur Rehman, district general secretary Mohammad Shoaib, district information secretary Malik Sher Bahadar Khan and former tehsil nazims Imranuddin advocate and Riaz Mohammad.

Mr Inayatullah said a grand jirga on the tax issue was scheduled to be held at the Chief Minister House in Peshawar today (Friday), adding that a JI delegation would participate in the meeting.

He said if the provincial government genuinely intended to increase pressure on the federal government over the proposed taxes, it should take practical measures by withdrawing provincial taxes in the region.

“The services sector is larger than agriculture and industry and billions of rupees are collected annually from service providers,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2026