JI to march on Islamabad in mid-November unless Rs 114 petrol levy is abolished

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will march on Islamabad in mid-November unless the federal government abolishes the petroleum levy, party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said at a press conference at Mansoorah, Lahore, on Monday. The levy he wants scrapped is Rs 114 a litre on petrol and Rs 100 a litre on diesel, Dawn reported.

"Now, the responsible thing to do is for us to be aggressive," he said, according to Dawn, adding that the party would come "with full force" if no relief is offered.

What the levy costs you

At Rs 114 a litre, the levy alone comes to Rs 4,560 on a 40-litre petrol tank and Rs 1,140 on 10 litres for a motorcycle. PSO's ex-depot Karachi price for petrol stands at Rs 377.71 a litre today; you can follow every change on our petrol price page and the diesel price page, and work out your own monthly bill with the fuel cost calculator.

Talks, but no meeting yet

JI says federal ministers have reached out again. On Sunday, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, contacted JI vice emir Liaquat Baloch, and the two sides agreed that Hafiz Naeem would meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif within two days, Dawn reported. Baloch told them nothing would come of the talks without a concrete offer.

Hafiz Naeem said JI has never refused a meeting but does not want one that is only a photo opportunity. He told reporters he would make an "important announcement" on the evening of the meeting if relief is agreed, The Express Tribune reported.

Why the September relief is not enough, says JI

In September the government announced Rs 100 a litre of relief for motorcycles and rickshaws on a monthly quota of 20 litres, and for cars up to 800cc on a quota of 30 litres. Hafiz Naeem said JI's protests in 42 cities forced that scheme, but it leaves out most car owners and public transport, and does nothing for the price of food and goods moved by diesel trucks.

The other demands

Besides abolishing the levy, JI wants:

• lower margins for oil refineries and oil marketing companies, so the pump price falls;
• a cut in the State Bank's policy rate, now 11.5% (see the policy rate page);
• withdrawal of the emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa;
• steps away from interest-based banking.

How we got here

• 16 August: JI sit-ins outside the governor's houses in all provincial capitals.
• 3 September: a planned national strike was called off when both sides agreed to form technical committees on cutting the levy.
• 20 September: JI's march left Karachi by train and reached Multan, where it was suspended on 22 September after the prime minister phoned Hafiz Naeem and promised a meeting.
• 26 October: the new deadline of mid-November.

Our earlier report on the JI sit-ins and the stalled PM meeting has the background. No date for the march has been fixed yet; the government has not commented publicly on the threat.