JI demands petrol price cut, calls for protests over levy

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sindh chief Kashif Saeed Sheikh has said the federal government’s decision to reduce petrol prices by just Rs1.97 per litre is a serious joke with the public, calling the Rs118 tax collected on every litre of petrol, including levy, an open injustice. Sheikh said protests will be held at all district headquarters across Sindh on Friday, July 10, against the levy, following an appeal by JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. He demanded that the government end its extravagance and free perks and set the petrol price at Rs225 per litre to provide genuine relief to the public, adding that JI would not stay silent over the injustice being done to the people. Speaking to delegations that met him at the provincial office in Quba Auditorium, the provincial chief said that despite a significant drop in crude oil prices in the international market, the government, instead of passing on the benefit to the public, has placed additional economic burden on them through petroleum levy and other heavy taxes, which he called clear proof of government insensitivity and anti-people policies. He said the country is already gripped by severe inflation, unemployment and economic difficulties, and the continuously rising prices of electricity, gas and petrol have made life difficult for the common man, with public hardships increasing daily due to government inefficiency. The JI Sindh chief said that if the government genuinely wants to give relief to the public, it should end unnecessary expenses, royal-style governance and free perks, significantly reduce the heavy taxes and levy imposed on petroleum products, and pass on the full benefit of falling international oil prices to the people. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026