He says protests would continue until the government provides significant relief to the public.
LAHORE:
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Tuesday announced nationwide protests on July 10 against oil tax, rising fuel prices, inflation and what he called the government’s ineffective economic policies.
At a press conference in Lahore, Rehman said the protests would continue until the government provided significant relief to the public.
Rehman chastised the government’s overall handling of the power sector, saying that although the official price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was fixed at Rs 241 per kilogram, it was sold in the market for around Rs 500 per kilogram. He added that the prolonged reduction in gas load and high LPG prices put an additional burden on consumers.
“Affordable gas is vital for economic growth,” he stressed.
Referring to the recent reduction in oil prices by the government, the JI leader termed the relief of Rs 1.97 per liter as “inadequate”.
He also described the Rs 118 per liter in compound taxes and levies on gasoline collected by the authorities as “extortion” and claimed that the government collected around Rs 8.5 trillion, which was used to meet tax collection targets instead of improving power supply infrastructure.
Rehman urged the public to oppose what he described as an unfair system, stating that the retail price of petrol should not exceed Rs 225 per litre. He made a special appeal to young people to participate in Friday’s protests across the country.
The chief also questioned the collection of the climate support tax on petroleum products and asked where, according to him, approximately Rp60 billion collected under the tax had been spent.
He highlighted that the oil tax disproportionately affected low-income and middle-class citizens, including workers, students and motorcycle users, while influential landowners continued to evade taxes. He demanded immediate abolition of the tax and reiterated that petrol prices should not exceed Rs 225 per litre.
