LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami’s nationwide protest campaign against the increase in petroleum prices and the petroleum levy continued in Lahore on Friday, where the party’s Ameer, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, announced that sit-ins would be held outside the Chief Ministers’ Houses and Governor Houses in all four provinces on Sunday.
Addressing participants of the protest sit-in in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said that no ambulance had been blocked during the demonstrations and that every emergency vehicle had been allowed to pass.
He said people had gathered because they were burdened by rising inflation. He claimed that when petroleum prices began declining in the international market, the government instead increased fuel prices, adding that taxes had continued to rise following the increase in petroleum product prices.
He declared that the protest movement would not stop and asked participants whether they were prepared to continue if he asked them not to leave the protest venue.
The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said the nation had to fight for its rights, adding that people were previously unaware of how the rulers were allegedly exploiting the public. He claimed that billions of rupees had been collected from citizens in taxes and stated that the petroleum levy amounted to Rs8 trillion.
Hafiz Naeem said his party had exposed the levy before the entire nation and insisted that it must be abolished, adding that Jamaat-e-Islami did not accept the levy. He also questioned whether Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had sought the International Monetary Fund’s approval before purchasing an aircraft worth Rs11 billion, claiming that the aircraft had been purchased with public money.
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He said inflation primarily affected poor people and questioned whether the country’s elite had any understanding of the hardships caused by rising prices. He added that the existing system needed to be changed, saying that minor adjustments would not solve the country’s problems and that the current system had to be uprooted for real change to take place.
Hafiz Naeem said Jamaat-e-Islami viewed politics as a form of service and was struggling for the country’s 250 million people. He said the party wanted a state in which the people were included, adding that Pakistan had been established in the name of Allah and could not belong to bureaucrats or the elite. He called for the abolition of the petroleum levy and electricity taxes, saying a major public struggle lay ahead.
Describing the ongoing demonstrations as “just a trailer,” he said there would be a break on Saturday, after which Jamaat-e-Islami would march towards the Chief Minister’s House on Sunday. He said a historic movement had begun and announced that protest sit-ins would be staged outside the Chief Ministers’ Houses and Governor Houses in all four provinces.
