Abolish Petroleum Levy or People Will Move to Topple Government: Hafiz Naeemur Rehman
Sanaullah Nagra (@) Published September 23, 2026 | 06:42 PM
Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned that protests against the petroleum levy would continue and expand if relief was not provided to the public following a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He stated, "It would be better to abolish the levy; otherwise, people will take to the streets to bring down the government."
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made these remarks at a press conference in Islamabad, emphasizing that Jamaat-e-Islami's struggle had raised public awareness. He highlighted the party's successful efforts against independent power producers (IPPs), resulting in benefits of 4.5 trillion rupees for the national exchequer.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader pointed out the contradictions in political parties' conduct, accusing them of supporting mafias while his party fights against them. He noted that the campaign against the levy began with blocks on roads at 510 locations and sit-ins at 42 sites nationwide since August 16.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman presented workable proposals to reduce the interest rate by 3 percent, benefiting the exchequer by over 1.5 trillion rupees, and called for an end to privileges and extravagance among rulers. He urged them to switch to 1,300cc cars instead of traveling in a 11-billion-rupee aircraft, impose taxes on landlords, stop capacity payments to IPPs, and eliminate corruption at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) worth 1.3 trillion rupees.
He clarified that the IMF agreement does not mandate meeting revenue targets through levies, questioning whether the program is beneficial or harmful to Pakistan's economy.