PROVINCE REPORT
PESHAWAR: Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Central, Abdul Wasi, on Monday criticized the government’s petroleum pricing policy, alleging that Rs1.9 trillion was collected through the petroleum levy over the past year, including a significant amount from low-income citizens.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, accompanied by Provincial Deputy Ameer Mian Sohaibuddin Kakakhel, former MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, and Noor-ul-Wahid Jadun, Abdul Wasi said the government had placed an unbearable financial burden on the public through repeated increases in fuel prices and petroleum levy taxes.
He alleged that consumers are not given relief when international oil prices fall, while increases are immediately passed on to the public. He also accused the government of burdening citizens with the repayment of international loans while maintaining lavish spending by the ruling elite.
Abdul Wasi announced that Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has called for nationwide protests on August 7 against rising petroleum prices and the petroleum levy. He said the party’s Women’s Wing will hold a demonstration in Peshawar on August 6, while motorway interchanges, the Indus Highway at Kohat, and the Pak-Afghan Highway at Bab-e-Khyber will be blocked during the August 7 protest, with ambulances exempted. He warned that the party could launch a march towards Islamabad if its demands are not met.
