PESHAWAR: Jamaat-i-Islami staged protest rallies and held public meetings in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday against inflation and record increase in the prices of petroleum products.

A statement issued here said that JI workers organised rallies on the appeal of the party chief Sirajul Haq, who also addressed public meeting in Buner district. The government has increased price of petrol by Rs30 per litre.

Sirajul Haq flayed increase in fuel prices and said that coalition government instead of giving relief to people continued policies of the previous government. “The coalition government has started rubbing salt into the wounds of people. International Monetary Fund has started economic terrorism in Pakistan,” he added.

He said that the previous PTI government borrowed record loans from international agencies. He said that common people were paying heavy price for the flawed policies of the rulers. He termed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Rs2,000 monthly relief package a jock with the poor.

Protesters urge PM Shehbaz Sharif to revise the decision

In Peshawar, the JI workers took out a rally from Mahabat Khan Mosque and a large number of people participated in it.

Speakers on the occasion said that the country was mortgaged with International Monetary Fund. They said that government increased the prices of petroleum products on the directives of IMF. They added that hike in petrol prices would further trigger inflation in the country.

In Lower Dir, hundreds of JI workers gathered in Balambat and reached Gorgorai Chowk.

The protesters were led by JI district chief Izazul Mulk Afkari. They chanted slogans against the government. They also blocked Balambat road for some time.

The speakers said that increase in the prices of petroleum products and other items broke the backbone of the poor. They said that people were left with no other option but to commit suicides.

They said that the government of Pakistan Democratic Movement like that of PTI disappointed the nation as both followed the dictates of IMF. They said that PDM leadership also failed to facilitate people and get them rid of the current inflation. They said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa generated most of the electricity while it faced the longest duration of power loadshedding in the country.

The JI workers also held a protest rally in Chakdara.

In Bajaur, JI held a protest rally in Khar Bazaar that was attended by scores of workers, traders and residents of the area.

Holding party flags and placards inscribed with slogans against increase in fuel prices, the rally started from Bajaur Press Club and turned into a big gathering after passing through different markets.

JI local chapter chief Sardar Khan, deputy chief Qari Abdul Majeed, Maulana Waheed Gul, Haji Sahibur Rahman, Farmanullah and others addressed the protesters.

They termed the recent increase in the prices of fuel unjustified and said that people were already hit hard by record inflation. They said that the recent increase in the fuel prices was a matter of serious concern for the entire nation. They urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to immediately revise the decision.

In Swabi, the protesters gathered in district office of JI and marched to Karnal Sher Khan Chowk.

They were holding banners and chanting slogans against the government for increasing the prices of petrol and diesel.

Addressing the protesters, JI former district emir Mahmoodul Hassan said that the government dropped petrol and diesel bombs on the people, who were already crushed by skyrocketing prices of the essential commodities.

He said that the present government was claiming to control inflation before coming to power but it increased prices of petrol and diesel, forcing the downtrodden to commit suicide.

In Bannu, the JI workers gathered outside the press club and closed the urban road to vehicular traffic.

Carrying banners and placards, they chanted slogans against the government for its failure to control price hike.

Speaking on the occasion, JI district chief Mohammad Ajmal Khan, deputy emir Maulana Tameezuddin, JI youth provincial deputy chief Dr Abdul Rauf Qureshi and district chief Abrar Zaman said that the incumbent and previous governments were two sides of the same coin and said that both were responsible for the record inflation in the country.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2022