KARACHI, Nov 1: Deputy chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, Senator Ghafoor Ahmad, has termed “oppressive and anti-people” the hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Prof Ghafoor Ahmad said on Friday that although the government had appealed to the traders not to increase prices in Ramazan, and those who indulged in profiteering were rounded up and sent to the prison, the government itself had raised prices of petroleum products at a time when their prices were falling in the international market.

The price hike was shameful, said Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, as it was bound to affect the prices of other goods, besides increasing the cost of commuting. He claimed that the government had crossed all limits of decency because it had no comprehension of the problems being faced by the common people who were committing suicide in increasing numbers.

The senator said the government, instead of providing relief to the people, was bent upon to tormenting them in the sacred month of Ramazan.