Abolish Petroleum Levy or People Will March to Topple the Government: Hafiz Naeemur Rehman

Islamabad (Qudrat Daily):Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, has said that the protests and sit-ins against the petroleum levy will be further expanded, and they will not relinquish the right to a long march under any circumstances. He stated that the march was paused for a few days at the request of the Prime Minister, but if the public is not given relief in the meeting upon Shehbaz Sharif’s return to the country, the caravans will move toward Islamabad.

“It is better that the levy be abolished; otherwise, the people will come out to topple the government,” he expressed these views while addressing a press conference in Islamabad. Deputy Ameer Mian Muhammad Aslam, Deputy Secretary Syed Farasat Shah, Ameer Islamabad Nasrullah Randhawa, Acting Ameer Punjab North Iqbal Khan, and Ameer Rawalpindi Arif Shirazi were also present on the occasion.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that as a result of Jamaat-e-Islami’s struggle, awareness has been awakened among the people. Before public awareness on the levy, Jamaat-e-Islami protested against IPPs and forced the government to talk to them, which benefited the national treasury by 4,500 billion rupees. He said that unfortunately, political parties in the country do not raise their voices on public issues; Jamaat-e-Islami’s struggle is against the mafias, while other parties are doing politics with the support of mafias.

The Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami said that Jamaat-e-Islami began its struggle against the levy by blocking roads at 510 locations. Sit-ins began on August 16, which were held at 42 locations across the country. During this period, several rounds of negotiations were held with the government, and workable proposals were given to the rulers. The government has no reasoned response to our proposals. The government was told that reducing the interest rate by just three percent would benefit the treasury by more than 1,500 billion rupees. The rulers should end their privileges and luxuries, use 1,300cc vehicles instead of traveling on an 11 billion rupee jet, impose taxes on feudal lords, stop paying capacity charges to IPPs, and end the 1,300 billion rupee corruption in the FBR.

The government sometimes says that the matter of interest is under the authority of the State Bank, which is an autonomous institution, and sometimes it is said that there is IMF pressure. He clarified that the IMF agreement nowhere mentions that revenue targets should be met by imposing a levy. Whether the IMF program is beneficial or harmful to the national economy is a separate topic, and the past 26 programs have made it clear how much benefit the IMF has brought to the country’s economy. However, it is clear that the IMF does not stop rulers from reducing expenditures or imposing taxes on feudal lords. The IMF does not say that fixed charges should be collected from the public on electricity.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that the public is paying nearly 140 rupees in taxes on one liter of petrol. This oppression will no longer be tolerated. The government is nurturing the bank mafia, IPP mafia, sugar mafia, flour mafia, refineries mafia, oil marketing companies mafia, and countless other mafias. The government borrows 77 percent from private banks, and at an interest rate of 11.5 percent, payments of around 8,500 billion rupees are made to banks in the budget. Forty percent of the country’s population has current bank accounts. When such a large number of people are not doing interest-based business with banks, where does the government pay interest on loans from private banks? This interest is paid by directly robbing the public’s pockets, and this is the worst capitalist system.

He clarified that in an economy like Pakistan’s, the interest rate has no relation to inflation. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that he had made it clear to the Prime Minister in a telephone conversation that Jamaat-e-Islami will not relinquish the right to protest and long march until the levy is abolished. The situation will become clear immediately after the meeting with the Prime Minister; until then, protests will continue. Public gatherings will also be held in Lahore and other cities. In response to a question, he said that Jamaat-e-Islami is not afraid of criticism; the people are with us. He said that he has repeatedly said that Imran Khan is a political prisoner and PTI is being victimized.