LAHORE: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has announced that the party will hold peaceful sit-ins and road closures at 510 locations across the country today, Friday, August 7, against the imposition of petroleum levy and rising inflation.
He warned that no more oppression of the people will be tolerated and demanded that the price of petrol be reduced to Rs. 225 per litre.
Addressing a demonstration organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Halqa Khawateen on Wahdat Road against petroleum prices and inflation, Hafiz Naeem said the sit-ins will be held at 4 p.m. today in all major cities. Roads will remain closed during the protest, with only ambulances allowed to pass.
“If obstacles are created, this protest against the levy will be turned into a movement to bring down the government,” he warned, adding that the government will have to fulfill the demands of the people and if the rulers do not take heed, the entire responsibility for the situation will fall on them.
Calling the petroleum levy an “extortion”, the JI chief said every citizen is deeply worried. “A poor person is being charged Rs. 125 tax on a single litre of petrol,” he said.
He criticized the government for its petroleum pricing policy, stating that prices were increased during the war situation in the region on the pretext of the global market, but were not reduced after the situation normalized. “Even when crude reached $74 per barrel after the war ended, petroleum prices in Pakistan were not brought back to the old level,” he said.
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that the “Form-47 rulers sitting in power have the looted wealth of the nation and cannot understand the pain and suffering of the people.”
He said that inflation has made it impossible for households to survive, with women facing severe difficulties in running their kitchens and being forced to sell their jewelry to manage household expenses.
“The rulers have become slaves of the IMF. Even the IMF tells them to reduce their own expenses, but they do not listen to that,” he added.
He said millions of people will be on the streets at 4 p.m. on Friday and peaceful protests will be held in all cities of the country.
