ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami Islamabad Ameer Nasrullah Randhawa has said the party’s struggle against the petroleum levy will continue and a large protest of women will be held at Aabpara Chowk today.
Addressing a press conference at the Jamaat-e-Islami Islamabad office on September 11, 2026, Randhawa said the government, instead of providing relief to the people during the Iran-US war, had placed an additional burden on them through the petroleum levy.
He said Rs150 billion more than the levy fixed in the budget had been collected, while despite the collection of around Rs500 billion in petroleum levy in previous years, no oil refinery had been upgraded as required.
Randhawa said the purpose of the petroleum levy was to upgrade refineries, but the amount had instead become a source of burden on the people. He said the government and bureaucracy had failed to answer Jamaat-e-Islami’s questions during negotiations.
JI Youth President Sohaib Usman, Political Affairs Secretary Aamir Baloch and Information Secretary Rab Nawaz Malik were also present on the occasion.
The JI Islamabad chief said continuous increases in the prices of petroleum products had made life difficult for the common man. He urged the government to stop burdening the public and reduce its lavish expenditures.
He said Jamaat-e-Islami had decided that its struggle would continue until the people received real relief. He said a major women’s protest would be held at Aabpara Chowk, where thousands of women would raise their voice for their rights.
Randhawa said the government would ultimately have to bow before facts and public pressure.
Referring to the long march, he said participants coming to Islamabad for the struggle for public rights were guests of the city, and Jamaat-e-Islami would give them a warm welcome and hospitality to the extent possible.
He said if Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced his arrival in Islamabad, he would also be welcomed in full measure.
Randhawa said if petrol became cheaper, the people would prosper, the wheel of the economy would move and the common man would get real relief.
