JI launches signature drive against 'extortion' petroleum levy

Key Points:

The Jamaat-e-Islami has opened a three-day nationwide signature campaign in Faisalabad against the petroleum levy.
Punjab Ameer Javed Kasuri calls the levy an “extortion tax” and warns of a long march if it is not withdrawn.
He demands that the Rs130 per litre levy and taxes on petroleum products be abolished.

FAISALABAD: The Jamaat-e-Islami on Saturday opened a three-day signature drive against the petroleum levy it calls an extortion tax.

According to the party’s media cell handout, Punjab Ameer Javed Kasuri toured the camps set up in Ghulam Muhammad Abad, Bawa Chak and Kokianwala on the first day of the campaign. District Ameer Mian Tahir Ayub accompanied him on the tour.

Party workers stand at a Jamaat-e-Islami signature camp in Faisalabad during the petroleum levy campaign

Supporters raise their hands at a Jamaat-e-Islami signature camp in Faisalabad during the petroleum levy campaign

Addressing the gatherings, Mr Kasuri welcomed the recent cut in petroleum prices but said the real issue was the petroleum levy.

He said the levy was an extortion tax, adding that the ball was now in the government’s court and the protest would continue if the tax was not withdrawn.

The Punjab Ameer said the burden of the independent power producers and the petroleum levy had gone beyond the people’s endurance. He said the economy had ground to a halt while the government was picking the people’s pockets through illegitimate means.

Mr Kasuri said it had been agreed at a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman that the levy would be eased. He said they had agreed that the tax, which he termed illegitimate, would be abolished in phases.

He said the party’s protest over the levy and the power producers was what had been winning relief for the people. He added that peaceful public resistance, made the vehicle for resolving public issues, would strengthen the political democratic tradition.

The Punjab Ameer warned that a long march would follow if the government failed to take serious steps to relieve the people. He said the government would bear full responsibility for the consequences, adding that the party had exhausted every avenue in the negotiation process.

Mr Kasuri said lasting relief was possible only if the government abolished the Rs130 per litre levy and taxes on petroleum products. He said the government should cut its own expenditure instead of burdening the people and take practical steps to end the interest-based system.

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