JI gives PM talks a chance, keeps Islamabad march on table

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said on Tuesday that the party would give Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif a chance to hold talks on public relief but would not back down from its protest movement or planned long march towards Islamabad, while maintaining that its wider protest movement would continue.

According to a post on X, Rehman said that following lengthy consultations, the party had decided to keep its sit-ins and protest camps active while allowing the prime minister time to meet the JI and discuss measures to provide relief to the public

Speaking at a press conference in Multan, Rehman said the party had held an extensive consultation before deciding to give the prime minister an opportunity to discuss its demands.

ملتان میں پریس کانفرنس کرتے ہوئے حافظ نعیم الرحمن کا کہنا ہے کہ کل وزیر اعظم نے فون پر کہا اپنے لانگ مارچ کو ملتوی یا مؤخر کریں، وزیر اعظم کو بتایا عوام پریشان ہیں، ہمیں احتجاج کا کوئی شوق نہیں ہے۔ وزیر اعظم نے کہا وہ بیرون ملک ہیں، آؤں گا تو ریلیف دوں گا۔ آج طویل مشاورت سے فیصلہ… pic.twitter.com/tDALjc29ME
— Jamaat e Islami Pakistan (@JIPOfficial) September 22, 2026

“We will not withdraw from our protest, nor will we withdraw from our long march,” he said.

Rehman said PM Shehbaz had contacted him while he was speaking at Multan railway station and requested that the march be cancelled or postponed. The prime minister told him he would meet the JI leadership after returning to Pakistan and discuss measures to provide relief to the public, he said.

“I told him that your ministers have been making these promises for so many days, and we have been forced into this situation,” Rehman said, adding that the party had no interest in continuing protests in severe heat if the issue could be resolved.

The JI chief said the government’s relief package was inadequate and maintained that the party’s main demand was the abolition of the additional levy on petroleum products.

“Our agenda is not disorder; it is to provide relief to the people,” Rehman said.

He said JI workers would remain active during the period before the prime minister’s return, while the party would seek a written assurance from the government.

Rehman said the long march would remain stationed in Multan until the prime minister returned and talks took place. “This will be the government’s last chance for talks,” he said, adding that the petroleum levy must be abolished.

The JI chief said the party had launched its protest movement over rising electricity, gas and petrol prices and had held demonstrations across the country.

He said the party had staged protests before holding sit-ins at 510 locations nationwide from August 7, while allowing ambulances to pass. From August 16, the sit-ins began at four provincial headquarters and later expanded to 42 cities, he said.

The JI also held a shutdown strike on September 3 with public and traders’ support, after which the government came under pressure and negotiations began, Rehman said.

He said the JI had presented proposals to the government’s committee on ways to abolish the levy, but the government had cited pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its inability to remove it.

Rehman said the JI’s Islamabad march began on September 20, with the first phase involving a train march from Karachi to Rohri and the second phase from Rohri to Multan.

“Our agenda is absolutely clear. We have no personal agenda and no party agenda. We want nothing for ourselves,” he said.

Rehman rejected the government’s relief package, saying it amounted to Rs26 billion to Rs30 billion a month while the government was collecting Rs150 billion in levy.

“The ultimate solution is to abolish the additional levy on petrol,” he said.

The JI chief said the party would continue its preparations for the Islamabad march while waiting for the prime minister’s meeting and would not limit its planned entry into the capital to a single point, and also referred to conditions in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir, saying the JI wanted to bring people from those areas into the mainstream through national unity.

“If the prime minister tells us on that day what relief we are providing, then it is fine. If relief is not provided, we have the first week and first ten days of October, and we will continue our long march against the same government in the same manner.”

“If the situation worsens, the government will be responsible. Our sit-ins and protest camps will continue,” he said.

According to a statement issued by the JI media wing, PM Shehbaz contacted Rehman after the JI chief reached Multan while leading the party’s train march towards Islamabad.

“I have already announced a relief package for the nation. However, as soon as I return to Pakistan, I will meet the JI chief and announce a better relief package for the public,” PM Shehbaz was quoted as saying by the JI in a post on X.

In response, Rehman said the announced relief package was “not acceptable in any way” and that the party would continue its struggle.

“The JI chief said the party has been protesting against the petroleum levy for the past one-and-a-half months and would not withdraw from the protest until the levy was abolished,” the statement said.

Rehman said he had told the prime minister that he would consult the party leadership over his request for a pause of a few days in the long march before making a decision.

وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف کا امیر جماعت اسلامی حافظ نعیم الرحمان سے رابطہ

وزیر اعظم نے امیر جماعت اسلامی سے درخواست کی کہ مارچ کچھ دن ملتوی کردیں۔

عوام کے لیے ریلیف پیکج کا اعلان کیا ہے۔ وزیراعظم

اعلان شدہ ریلیف پیکج کسی صورت قبول نہیں، ہم جدوجہد جاری رکھیں گے۔ امیر جماعت… pic.twitter.com/NslYkSiIDx
— Jamaat e Islami Pakistan (@JIPOfficial) September 21, 2026

On Sunday, JI launched the party’s Karachi-to-Islamabad “super train march” against the petroleum levy, “cruel” agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), warning that the ongoing campaign could intensify into a movement to oust the government if its demands were not accepted.

Read: JI raises alarm over delay in protest train

Thousands of JI workers and participants gathered at Karachi Cantonment Railway Station for the departure, while women office-bearers of the party bade farewell to the marchers with prayers.

Rehman said the caravan would reach Islamabad as the voice of the people’s demands, while other caravans from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were also due to set off for the capital.

He said JI had chosen to take to the streets for the rights of the people. The party had staged a 35-day sit-in in Karachi, while sit-ins were continuing in Sukkur, Larkana and Hyderabad, with marches and protest sit-ins also under way in different parts of Punjab.

Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme

The PM’s Fuel Relief Scheme, announced on September 13 and rolled out across the country at midnight on September 16 amid a continuous rise in fuel prices due to a war in the Gulf, provides a Rs100-per-litre petrol subsidy to eligible motorcycles, rickshaws, other two- and three-wheelers, and cars of up to 800cc.

The prime minister directed the establishment of facilitation desks comprising administration officials, volunteers and petrol pump staff to assist citizens in easily obtaining the subsidy.

Read more: Fuel relief scheme to go nationwide at midnight tomorrow

He directed that personnel deployed at the facilitation desks should guide eligible citizens and provide them with all possible assistance in registration and other necessary procedures.

PM Shehbaz also asked the relevant authorities to remain proactive in creating public awareness about the scheme.Read More