JI announces 25 protest camps in Karachi

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi has announced plans to establish 25 protest camps across the city from Saturday to raise its voice against prolonged power outages and the petroleum levy.

JI Karachi chief Munim Zafar made the announcement during a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq on Friday. He criticised the government for failing to resolve Karachi’s electricity crisis and continuing to impose the petroleum levy despite rising inflation and living costs.

Zafar described the petroleum levy as an additional burden on ordinary citizens and demanded its immediate withdrawal. He said the levy was making it harder for people to manage essential expenses, including food, rent, electricity bills and their children’s education.

The JI leader claimed that the government collected Rs1,566 billion through the petroleum levy during the last financial year. He said workers, farmers and motorcycle users were among the groups facing its impact.

According to Zafar, a motorcyclist using around one litre of petrol daily pays about Rs131 in petroleum levy. He also pointed to the large number of motorcycle users across the country and argued that the levy places a significant financial burden on ordinary households.

Zafar recalled that JI had previously organised protests at hundreds of locations across the country as part of its campaign against the petroleum levy. He said the party had also staged nationwide sit-ins on August 16.

On the power crisis, the JI leader criticised the government’s arrangements involving independent power producers (IPPs). He welcomed the decision to terminate agreements with five IPPs but called for broader measures to address capacity payments.

Zafar argued that electricity consumers should not be required to pay for generation capacity when some power plants were producing little or no electricity. He called for reforms to ensure consumers were not burdened with unnecessary charges.

He also criticised K-Electric over prolonged load-shedding in Karachi. Zafar claimed that some areas were facing power outages lasting up to 18 hours, describing the situation as a serious hardship for residents.

He argued that electricity should not be disconnected across entire neighbourhoods because of the non-payment of a small percentage of consumers. According to him, only around two to three per cent of consumers were not paying their bills, and action should instead be taken against individual defaulters.

Zafar said prolonged outages were particularly affecting children, elderly people and women. He urged the government and K-Electric to take immediate steps to improve electricity supply and provide relief to Karachi residents.

The announcement comes shortly after JI suspended its planned train march towards Islamabad following a request from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The party has continued to demand the withdrawal of the petroleum levy and other measures aimed at reducing the financial pressure on citizens.