Karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday reaffirmed his party's resolve to continue its public campaign against what he described as the 'extortionate' petroleum levy, the IPP mafia and rising inflation, saying the government would have to abolish the levy and cancel anti-people agreements with independent power producers.
Speaking at a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq along with Karachi JI Chief Monem Zafar Khan, Haifz Naeemur Rehman said the party's nationwide shutter-down strike scheduled for Sept 3 would be 'historic' and that the future course of action would be announced after the strike. He said options under consideration included a long march towards Islamabad, sit-ins in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and expanding the protest movement across the country.
He said sit-ins in the four provincial capitals had entered their 18th day, while the protest in Peshawar had spread to five locations. He added that a sit-in in Hyderabad had continued for 10 days and protests were also being held in interior districts and remote areas such as Chitral. He said public participation in the protests was increasing, while traders across the country, including Karachi, had announced unanimous and extraordinary support for the JI's movement and the Sept 3 strike.
Calling the petroleum levy and payments to IPPs a grave injustice to the public, he appealed to political workers from all parties, whether in government or opposition, to join the movement.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that the JI's campaign had raised public awareness about the manner in which governments were burdening ordinary citizens with taxes. He said Pakistan had around 25 million motorcycles and approximately five million four-wheeled vehicles, arguing that motorcycles were primarily used by low-income and middle-income citizens. He said that the government was collecting around Rs130 per litre in the form of the petroleum levy and other taxes, placing an unfair burden on ordinary people.
The JI chief also criticised what he termed the extravagant spending and official protocols of rulers, saying the cost was ultimately borne by taxpayers. Referring to IPPs, he said that more than Rs1.7 trillion had been paid to certain power producers for electricity that had not been generated. He further said that some IPP owners had registered their companies outside Pakistan and did not pay income tax in the country.
He said that the JI's movement against IPPs had resulted in billions of rupees in savings for the national exchequer and said the party's protests had contributed to a reduction of Rs16 in electricity prices.
Commenting on proposals concerning new administrative units and the division of provinces, he said the JI had no objection to the creation of administrative units within the constitutional framework. However, he questioned PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari over election results in Karachi and also criticised both the PPP and MQM-P, urging them not to create divisions between Sindhi and Muhajir communities.
JI leaders Saifuddin Advocate, Raja Arif Sultan, Taufeequddin Siddiqui, Sindh Assembly member Mohammad Farooq and information secretary Zahid Askari flanked Naeemur Rehman and Monem Zafar at the press conference.