Petrol price hike sparks NA protests, JI announces nationwide action
ISLAMABAD: Opposition members staged a protest in the National Assembly on Friday against the government’s sharp increase in petroleum prices, with lawmakers chanting slogans while surrounding the speaker’s podium in a show of defiance.
During the protest, some opposition members tore up copies of the assembly’s agenda in frustration. They insisted on addressing the House over the petroleum price hike, but Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah told them he would allow points of order only after the question hour.
The protest continued despite the warning, and the floor was temporarily given to opposition member Junaid Akbar Khan. Khan, criticising the government, said, “This incompetent and thieving government was imposed on Pakistan. Last night, this imposed government dropped a petrol bomb on the people.”
Khan also spoke against a state institution, prompting the deputy speaker to respond sternly: “If you continue speaking against institutions in this manner, I will not allow the session to proceed.”
Other opposition members, including JUI’s Noor Alam Khan, called on the speaker to allow parliamentarians to discuss the soaring prices of petroleum products, highlighting the public’s growing frustration over rising fuel and electricity costs.
Following the protest, the National Assembly session was adjourned until Monday.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said “the brutal increase in the price of petrol and diesel is unacceptable” and announced a protest movement across the country from Friday in a post on X.
JI’s Munim Zafar, during a press conference in Karachi on Friday, demanded the government roll back the petrol price hike and reiterated the start of the protest movement across Karachi, with a demonstration scheduled outside Millennium Mall at 8pm.
Meanwhile, former finance minister Miftah Ismail also raised eyebrows at the increase in government levy, stating that the government last night raised petrol prices by Rs79 per litre, but at the same time decided to “raise taxes on petrol” by Rs55 for a total increase of Rs134 per litre. “And it keeps saying it doesn’t want to burden the people and wants to lift the burden itself,” he remarked.
Former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair also questioned why Pakistan has “the most expensive petrol in the region.” According to him, petrol costs Rs286 in India, Rs280 in Bangladesh, Rs322 in Nepal, and Rs406 in Sri Lanka as compared to Pakistan’s Rs459.
“Only one reason: We are the most incompetent and corrupt compared to all these countries,” the former governor asserted.
He further noted that government austerity measures have been subpar, amounting to only “minor temporary 2-month austerity”.
Another ex-finance minister Asad Umar compared prices in India and Pakistan, saying that Pakistan’s petrol prices are currently 48% higher and diesel prices 92% higher than in neighbouring India.
He argued that the government’s “unwillingness to tax the rich and powerful” has left ordinary citizens to bear the burden, with “most of the taxes being collected from the working middle class” instead. Staff Report
