Addressing a public gathering at the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) sit-in in Lahore on Thursday, JI leader Rehman announced that caravans would travel towards Islamabad from Karachi, Quetta, Chitral, Kalam, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and other parts of the country.
He said a caravan travelling by train from Karachi would pass through Multan and Lahore before reaching the federal capital. The announcement came after 33 days of JI sit-ins and protests against the petroleum levy in several cities. The party has already announced September 20 as the date for its march towards Islamabad.
Rehman said the prolonged campaign had raised public awareness and created hope that economic issues could be addressed through political struggle. He maintained that the movement was not intended to serve the interests of any individual or political party but focused on issues affecting the wider population.
He said the JI negotiating team had held four rounds of talks with the government, but authorities continued to cite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a reason for retaining the petroleum levy.
“The government has to abolish the petroleum levy,” he said, warning that failure to address public demands would lead to an escalation of the movement.
