LAHORE : Jamaat-i-Islami Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari Advocate has strongly condemned the recent increase in petroleum prices, terming it an anti-people decision.
Speaking to the media during a protest demonstration, he said that the rulers are travelling in expensive jets while the common people, already burdened by inflation, are being forced to reduce their mobility and struggle for basic necessities.
He stated that by increasing the petrol price by Rs55 per litre, the government has shifted the entire burden onto the shoulders of the public. Using global conditions as an excuse to raise petroleum prices is unjust and unfair to the poor and middle classes. He warned that this decision will trigger another wave of inflation.
He demanded the government immediately end the free petrol facilities provided to rulers and officers and the prevailing protocol culture must be abolished and unnecessary privileges enjoyed by the elite should be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, former minister and PTI general secretary of Punjab Kissan Wing M Ejaz Shafi stated that the Rs55 per litre hike in fuel prices is a serious blow to the people and the farmers.
In a statement, he said that at a time when farmers were already struggling with the rising costs of fertilizers, electricity, seeds, pesticides, irrigation, and transportation, the increase in diesel prices during the wheat harvesting season would sharply raise the cost of agricultural production.
He added that agriculture in Pakistan heavily relied on diesel, from operating tube-wells and tractors to running harvesters and transporting crops from villages to markets, and such a drastic increase would directly push up the cost of food production and ultimately burden every household in the country.
He said that the PTI Kissan Wing strongly condemned the anti-farmer decision and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the diesel price increase for the agricultural sector or the introduction of a Green Diesel Rebate.
He called for a transparent audit of petroleum inventory, the establishment of a Rs100 billion emergency fund to convert diesel tube-wells to solar energy, and the fixation of the wheat support price at Rs5,500 per maund to protect farmers.
