PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami’s nationwide shutter-down strike against the petroleum levy, inflation and agreements with independent power producers while partially observed strike in Peshawar on Wednesday as traders divided over the protest call.
The party had announced the strike for September 3, calling it a historic protest against what JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman described as anti-people economic policies. He said the government was collecting around Rs130 per litre through petroleum levy and other taxes, placing an unfair burden on low and middle-income citizens who rely heavily on motorcycles and public transport.
In Peshawar, business activity remained mixed. Several markets saw partial closure as traders not fully supported the strike, while others continued operations as usual. JI leaders said the party’s sit-in in the city had expanded to five locations and had entered its 18th day. The party has been staging similar protests in Lahore, Karachi and other cities for nearly three weeks. During the strike, a video of a Peshawar trader refusing to shut his shop went viral on social media. The trader said both traders and the public were suffering due to inflation, but closing businesses would hurt daily wage earners even more.
JI leadership claimed traders across the country, including Karachi, had announced “unanimous and extraordinary” support for the campaign. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said the strike was aimed at protecting the rights of the poor, not for any political gain, and warned that if the government failed to provide relief, the party would expand protests to Islamabad and Rawalpindi and could announce a long march.
The government has reached out to JI for talks ahead of the strike. Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal contacted JI Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch with an offer for negotiations.
However, party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed Tarabi said JI would only engage if the government came with a “complete package” of relief on petroleum levy, electricity prices and inflation.
Hafiz Naeem also credited the ongoing campaign with forcing the government to reduce electricity rates by Rs16 per unit and to begin talks with IPPs, which he said could provide further relief of Rs10 to Rs15 per unit.
The party maintained that the September 3 strike was a “writing on the wall” for the rulers and vowed to continue peaceful protests until meaningful relief was announced.
Read also: Former Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan parts ways with Jamaat-e-Islami
