Overview
- The Jamaat-e-Islami launched sit-ins against the petroleum development levy on August 16 and those protests have continued into their third week across provincial capitals.
- JI officially announced a countrywide shutter-down strike for September 3 and is holding trader meetings and conventions to secure business support for the action.
- Party leaders say authorities have blocked their planned Liaquat Bagh rally in Rawalpindi by locking the venue and have warned that JI will stage sit-ins and road blockades in Rawalpindi and Islamabad if permission is denied.
- The protests focus on what JI calls an unfair petroleum levy of about Rs125–130 per litre, high electricity bills tied to capacity payments to independent power producers, and preferential subsidies for elites that they say shift the burden onto ordinary citizens.
- JI stresses its demonstrations are peaceful and says the shutdown is meant to pressure the government for relief, but the planned strike and threatened road blockades could disrupt markets, transport and daily life if traders and commuters participate.