JI demands withdrawal of petroleum levy

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Monem Zafar Khan has said that Rs130 is being collected per litre of petrol under the head of petroleum levy.

Addressing protesters of a sit-in in Karachi, he said the government had collected Rs1,566 billion under the petroleum levy last year.

Speaking on the fourth day of the JI sit-in outside the Governor’s House, he said that no one could suppress a struggle in which women and children take part.

“Women are participating in large numbers for the second time in the sit- on its fourth day. No one can defeat a struggle in which women and young people are present,” he said.

Zafar said that nobles, feudal lords, khans and chieftains had been ruling the country for decades.

“The hopes and aspirations with which Pakistan was created have not been fulfilled to this day,” he said.

Criticising the rulers, Zafar said that they continue to claim that the petroleum levy was being charged to repay the International Monetary Fund’s debt.

“The petrol issue is not just a JI issue but the voice of 250 million people of the country. The sit-in at the Governor’s House will continue, and street-to-street contacts will be held throughout the city in preparation for the August 21 protest,” he said, adding that JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman would participate in the party’s sit-in on August 21.

He urged women to attend the sit-in with their families on August 21.

Addressing the protesters, JI Women’s Circle Karachi Chairperson Javeda Faheem said that the government continues to jack up petrol and diesel prices despite the fact that the masses were already facing shortages of electricity, gas and water.

She said that people were regularly receiving hefty gas and electricity bills along with heavy taxes.

Faheem said that the country’s women were demanding the abolition of the petroleum levy, adding that more than Rs8.5 trillion had been collected under the tax.

“Women will not leave our brothers alone in this struggle,” she said.

“If the people still do not wake up, their right to live will also be taken away. The government closed five IPPs and did away with their contracts due to the sit-in. The agreements resulted in billions of rupees in benefits for the IPPs. This will not be allowed anymore,” she said.