Lahore (HRNW)- Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, has announced nationwide protests on July 10, criticizing the government’s failure to significantly reduce petroleum prices despite a decline in international oil prices.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said the government had previously reduced fuel prices following public pressure and urged citizens to participate in nationwide protests to demand further relief. He maintained that the price of petrol should not exceed Rs225 per litre under current conditions.
He said that more than Rs118 per litre is still being collected in the form of petroleum levy, taxes, and other charges. He also alleged that although the official price of LPG is Rs241 per kilogram, it is being sold in the market for around Rs500 per kilogram, placing an additional burden on consumers.
Calling the petroleum levy an “unjust tax,” Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman claimed it was originally introduced to improve refinery infrastructure but alleged that despite collecting billions of rupees, no significant improvements had been made. He said the burden of these taxes falls on students, laborers, motorcyclists, and middle-class families, while influential sectors remain outside the tax net.
The Jamaat-e-Islami chief also criticized the government’s economic policies, saying there has been little progress in exploring Pakistan’s oil and mineral resources. He called for immediate work on the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, noting that Iran has already completed its portion of the project, and urged the reopening of trade with Iran as part of regional normalization efforts.
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman further alleged widespread corruption within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and criticized what he described as governance through short-term schemes instead of long-term economic policies.
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