Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has accused the government of giving oil companies an undue margin on petrol prices, as his party’s sit-ins entered their ninth day (Geo News).
He was addressing the sit-in at Faisal Chowk on Lahore’s Mall Road on Monday.
The new charge
“The government is giving companies an undue margin on petrol prices,” Rehman said, adding that people were already facing difficulties while bureaucrats’ privileges were being increased.
That widens the argument. Until now JI’s case has rested on the petroleum levy — the tax component. The margin claim points at a different part of the price build-up: what the oil marketing companies and dealers are permitted to take per litre.
The dealers’ margin was raised by Rs1.34 earlier this month, after petroleum dealers threatened to shut every pump in the country.
The terms for talks
Rehman said that if the government wants to negotiate, it must negotiate over the abolition of the petroleum levy.
“Our issue is not about ego; we want to provide relief to the people,” he said.
Where the protest stands
Sit-ins are running in Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. Rehman said participation was increasing, including among women, and announced rallies in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.
He has called a nationwide shutter-down strike for 13 Rabi-ul-Awwal, and has said JI will call a nationwide shutdown if the protests face a crackdown.
What it is running against
Petrol rose again on Tuesday to Rs341.98 a litre and diesel to Rs370.69 — the third consecutive increase in diesel since last week’s Rs32.63 cut.
The government has not reduced the petroleum levy at any point during the protest. It continues to collect around Rs114 a litre on petrol and Rs100 on diesel.
Rehman’s line about bureaucrats’ privileges lands in a particular week: the prime minister has just formally rebuked the Islamabad IGP and chief commissioner for arriving at the Independence Day parade in a horse-drawn carriage, and instructed civil servants to maintain simplicity.
