LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI) will hold a major public rally in Lahore on Friday (today) as part of its campaign against the petroleum levy, with JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman expected to announce the next strategy for the planned “super long march” against the levy.
JI Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch said on Thursday that the party’s nationwide protest campaign would continue and urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to initiate talks on the petroleum levy immediately.
“Delaying tactics will not be accepted. If the government does not respond, we will resume the march,” Baloch said while addressing a press conference at Mansoora.
Baloch said the JI had temporarily suspended its Islamabad long march as part of its strategy but had not abandoned its demand for the complete abolition of the petroleum levy. He said Hafiz Naeemur Rehman would make an important announcement about the next phase of the march at Friday’s Lahore rally.
Baloch defended the right to protest in the capital and said that since the Parliament, Supreme Court and other key state institutions were located there, every political party had the right to hold peaceful protests in Islamabad.
He also criticised the situation in KP, describing it as resembling governor’s rule and saying that such a situation did not suit the federation.
Baloch said Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar had offered talks to the government. He urged the government to respond positively and form a committee for negotiations.
Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2026
