JI to set up over 25 camps in Karachi amid protest against petroleum levy

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has announced it will set up more than 25 camps across Karachi for protests starting tomorrow (Saturday) as part of a series of demonstrations against the petroleum levy and to demand an end to prolonged load-shedding in the city.

Friday's announcement — part of the JI's continued campaign against the petrol levy — came days after JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman had announced that the party had postponed the next phase of its march on Islamabad and would remain in Multan until a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Hafiz Naeem had said the JI sit-in in Multan would continue until the meeting, reiterating that the party would not withdraw from its protest movement.

Speaking to journalists in Karachi, JI Karachi Emir Munem Zafar said the series of sit-ins against the petroleum levy and excessive taxation was continuing across the country.

He said that the party demanded that the levy be withdrawn.

The JI leader also slammed K-Electric over power outages in the metropolis, claiming that the city was facing up to 18 hours of load-shedding, calling it a “collective punishment” for consumers because of some people who failed to pay their electricity bills.

Zafar said only a small proportion of consumers were not paying their electricity bills; K-Electric should take action against those individuals.

He demanded that the government intervene to end load-shedding in Karachi.

Zafar said the party would expand its protest activity in Karachi by setting up more than 25 camps from tomorrow, urging citizens to participate in the demonstrations.