JI Emir Warns of Nationwide Sit-ins if Inflation Persists, Demands Petrol at Rs225 per Litre

JI Emir Warns of Nationwide Sit-ins if Inflation Persists, Demands Petrol at Rs225 per Litre

LAHORE, July 10: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has warned that the JI will launch nationwide sit-ins and block major roads if the government does not reduce petrol prices to Rs225 per litre and provide immediate relief from soaring inflation.
Addressing a large anti-inflation protest rally on Ferozepur Road in Lahore's Ichhra area on Friday, Rehman urged the government to terminate agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), reduce electricity tariffs and immediately bring down the prices of essential commodities. He said the people could no longer bear the burden of the rulers' extravagance, adding that the entire nation would take to the streets if the government's demands for public relief remained unmet.
The JI chief said the cost of living had become unbearable, adding the government was burdening ordinary citizens with excessive taxation while allowing wasteful public spending to continue. He maintained that the JI would not allow the public to be pushed further into economic hardship and vowed to continue its struggle until people received meaningful relief.
Calling on the youth to prepare for a nationwide protest movement, Rehman urged them to respond whenever the party issued a call by bringing their motorcycles onto the roads as part of peaceful demonstrations.
He said the government was collecting Rs118 per litre from consumers in the form of petroleum levy and other taxes, while salaried individuals and ordinary citizens continued to shoulder the tax burden. At the same time, he said, those in power continued to enjoy lavish privileges at the public's expense.
Criticising the Punjab government, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said governance in the province had deteriorated significantly. He said dozens of roads in Lahore lacked proper public transport, farmers were facing severe difficulties, healthcare services remained inadequate, and nearly 10 million children in Punjab were still out of school. He questioned the provincial government's development claims and asked Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to explain why government schools were being sold and why millions of children remained deprived of education.
The JI Emir also reiterated the party's long-standing demand for reforms in the power sector, saying successive governments had favoured the IPP lobby by paying billions of rupees for electricity that was never produced. He said this practice must end and called for affordable electricity and gas, while demanding that prices of essential food items be restored to the levels that existed before the Iran-US conflict.
Rehman said he had convened an emergency meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami's Central Shura at Mansoorah on Saturday to deliberate on inflation and the country's overall political and economic situation. The meeting, he said, would determine the party's future strategy, and he urged the public to prepare for a sustained democratic movement to secure their rights.
Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari, Lahore Secretary Azhar Bilal and Central Punjab Secretary General Babar Rashid addressed the protest rally. Deputy emirs Khalid Ahmed Butt, Engineer Ikhlaq and Chaudhry Muhammad Shaukat, JI Youth Lahore President Jibran Butt, Deputy Secretary Lahore Amir Nisar Khan, Shahid Naveed Malik, South Lahore Emir Mirza Abdul Rasheed, Ahmad Salman Baloch, Sardar Noor Ahmad Dogar, Sheikh Muhammad Anwar, Zahid Imran Korotana and other party leaders were also present.