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Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has threatened to launch a nationwide strike and intensify protests against rising fuel costs and taxation, Dawn reported.
Addressing a press conference at the party's sit-in outside the Punjab Chief Minister's House in Lahore, JI chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said the protests had entered their 10th day and would continue until the government withdrew the petroleum levy and provided relief to the public. According to Dawn, Rehman said the party would announce the date for a nationwide strike on 13th Rabi-ul-Awwal and warned that shutdowns, road blockades and a march to Islamabad remained among the options if the government failed to respond to its demands. The JI chief criticised Pakistan's economic policies, alleging that successive governments had shifted the burden of economic challenges onto ordinary citizens. He demanded the immediate abolition of the petroleum levy and other fuel taxes and called for a reduction in the price of roti to Rs 10, Dawn reported. In the article published by Dawn, Rehman also called for a forensic audit into alleged irregularities in coal imports for independent power producers (IPPs), claiming that consumers were being forced to bear the costs of expensive fuel and flawed energy arrangements. According to Dawn, he criticised the ruling coalition and questioned its ability to address the country's economic problems. He further accused the government of failing to provide meaningful relief despite mounting public hardship. The JI leader warned that the party would expand its protest movement if its demands were ignored and invited the government's negotiating committee to visit the protest camp and explain how and when relief measures would be implemented. He also called for a transparent investigation into a recent incident involving a security official at a university in Islamabad, saying any action should be taken strictly in accordance with the law, Dawn reported. (ANI)
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