• PTI calls for a ‘mass revolution’ to oust a govt it says stole election
• JI announces nationwide agitation, threatens strikes, sit-ins
• Both parties dismiss official reasoning of global tensions; cites ‘exploitative taxes’ as real cause
LAHORE: PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Friday called for a ‘mass revolution’ to topple the government over the record fuel price hike, condemning the system as ‘unfair and pro-elite’, while Jamaat-i-Islami also vowed to stage nationwide protests.
Mr Raja, speaking at a fiery news conference at the Lahore Press Club, said the nation had “hit rock bottom” and urged citizens to take to the streets to topple the ruling coalition.
“We need revolution and to topple the incumbent government that grabbed power while snatching public mandate through the Form-47,” he said, referring to the official election result forms that his party alleges were widely manipulated in the February general elections.
“This is a moment in history that shakes us all. … We are treading on the path of revolution envisioned by incarcerated party founder Imran Khan.”
Mr Raja dismissed the government’s justification for the latest petroleum price increase, which officials have linked to global tensions. “It was rubbish to tag the massive increase in petroleum prices with the US-Iran war,” he said.
He alleged that before the recent geopolitical flare-up, the government was already charging approximately Rs81 per litre as a Petroleum Development Levy, a figure he claimed has now doubled to around 160 rupees per liter “to grab billions of rupees from people’s pockets”.
He accused the state of squeezing the public through regressive taxation while engaging in lavish spending on luxury vehicles and other perks for civilian and military officials.
“Democracy in a country directly helps the poor, weak and voiceless but it was purposely usurped, stole public mandate and silenced the trade unions,” Mr Raja said. “Where there is no politics in a state, the weak and poor remain unable to raise their voices.”
He announced that the PTI, under the banner of the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), will soon call a multi-party conference and launch a mass street movement against the price hike and what he called the “desecration of four walls and women’s dignity”.
Answering a question about previous protest calls, Mr Raja said he refrained from directing protesters to Islamabad’s D-Chowk with only 20,000 to 50,000 people because of past incidents where, he alleged, the “state had opened direct fire, killed several protesters and removed records from the hospital”.
He added that any political government should not rely on “the clutches provided by the establishment”.
In response to a question, Mr Raja stated that Imran Khan’s sisters have called on party organisation leaders to protest outside Adiala Jail on April 7. Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has requested permission from the federal government to hold a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh in Islamabad on April 9.
Flanking Mr Raja, Haqooq-i-Khalq Party General Secretary Ammar Jan claimed that oil companies had earned Rs113 billion in profit and independent power producers (IPPs) had earned over Rs1 trillion in 2024. He described the system as “socialism for the rich”.
JI announces nationwide protests
Meanwhile, in a separate address, Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced a countrywide protest movement against the petroleum price increase, warning of strikes and sit-ins if the government does not reverse its decision.
“The government must immediately withdraw the brutal and unjustified hike or face a nationwide agitation,” Mr Rehman said at a convention in Mansoorah, Lahore. He urged citizens to prepare for strikes across Pakistan and threatened that chief ministers’ houses in all four provinces would be surrounded.
Mr Rehman claimed the government collects over 200 rupees per litre in taxes on petrol, calling it an exploitative measure. He criticised the ruling parties, saying they came to power through a “flawed electoral process and establishment” and lacked a genuine public mandate.
The JI chief said rulers were using global crises as an excuse to burden the masses while maintaining a lavish lifestyle. “He questioned why relief was not passed on when international oil prices had dropped significantly in the past”.
On foreign policy, Mr Rehman strongly criticised the United States for backing Israeli actions in Palestine and targeting Iran, urging Pakistani leaders to adopt an independent foreign policy.
He called on party workers to mobilise at the grassroots level for a sustained movement to end the “dominance of elite classes” in the country.
Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2026
