Jamaat-e-Islami Announces July 10 Nationwide Protest Against Rising Petrol Prices

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan has announced a nationwide protest on July 10 against the government’s decision to keep petrol prices unchanged, with party chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman demanding that the petrol price in Pakistan should not exceed Rs225 per litre.

In a press conference in Lahore, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman observed that the party had already made protests a cost of the government, and called for peaceful demonstrations around the country to secure more relief. He said the government should immediately revise the petrol price, affording relief to the inflation-prone consumers.

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader condemn the policy of the government on fuel prices, saying even after more than Rs118 per litre they still recovered through taxes, including petroleum levy. He also point out the increasing price of LPG, stating that while the official price is Rs241 per kilogram, it sold in the market for almost Rs500 per kilogram, adding to the burden on households.

Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman demanded the immediate repeal of the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), saying that the levy imposed to modernize the oil refineries of Pakistan but since then it had not been able to bring any visible development in these facilities despite generating billions of rupees of revenue. The levy is an unfair burden on the people, that is, the ordinary citizen, whether a student, a worker, a motorcyclist or a middle-class family, and does nothing to help the wealthy landowners who continue to not pay their fair share of tax,” he said.

Addressing the problems of the economy, Jamaat-e-Islami leader stated that Pakistan’s government has no policy in hand to utilise the natural resources of Pakistan. He condemned the delay in the project of Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, saying authorities should expedite the work and increase trade ties with Iran, adding that Iran has already completed its part of the pipeline.

Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman also stated that corruption in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) costs the country around Rs1.3 trillion per year. He said thousands of employees of the FBR had not achieved the revenue targets requiring the public to pay higher taxes and levies to meet the target.

The Jamait-e-Islami leader also pointed out that though the Punjab government has implemented several welfare measures, the temporary ones are not a substitute for long-term economic reforms. He emphasized that economic stability of Pakistan is not possible through short-term relief measures but it requires good governance, fair taxation and sustainable public policies.

The July 10 nationwide protest is expected to focus on reducing petrol prices in Pakistan, ending excessive fuel taxes, abolishing the petroleum levy, and demanding broader economic reforms to provide relief to the public.