CHARSADDA: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) staged a protest at Farooq Azam Chowk here on Friday against the petroleum levy, rising inflation, prolonged power outages, farmers’ problems and alleged corruption, demanding immediate relief for the public and measures to address issues confronting the agriculture sector.

The protesters warned that if prolonged power outages were not addressed, the party would expand its protest campaign and stage sit-ins outside the relevant government offices.

Addressing the demonstration, JI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deputy general secretary Sohail Ahmad, Charsadda district emir Shah Hussain Advocate, general secretary Fawad Ahmad, District Bar Association president Mujeebur Rehman Advocate, Haroon Khan, Sajjad Ahmad and Abdul Malik rejected the petroleum levy, describing it as an additional financial burden on the people.

They said a protest campaign against the levy had been under way for the past three to four months under the leadership of JI emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, as rising inflation had severely eroded the purchasing power of ordinary citizens.

The speakers claimed that the country was burdened with Rs999 billion in debt and that every Pakistani owed approximately Rs400,000. They said even newborn babies were burdened with the country’s liabilities.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2026