Karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rahman has strongly rejected the recent increase in petroleum prices, urging the government to reduce its own expenditures instead of placing additional financial burden on the public.

In a video message, Hafiz Naeemur Rahman criticized the government for massive and unjustified increase in the prices of petroleum products, saying that the authorities had raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre under the pretext of fluctuations in the international market. He noted that Rs20 of the increase consists of petroleum levy, while the government already collects significant taxes on fuel.

He said the government was charging around Rs120 per litre in the form of levy and other taxes from an ordinary citizen, describing it as an unfair burden on the public at a time when inflation has already severely affected household budgets.

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said that during the past two years the government had collected Rs2.6 trillion in taxes on petroleum products, questioning how much tax had been recovered from the country's elite segments of society. He specifically asked the authorities to disclose how much tax had been collected from wealthy individuals and influential groups by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which employs nearly 26,000 officials. According to him, the government appears unwilling to reduce its own privileges or enforce taxation on the affluent while continuing to squeeze ordinary citizens.

Hafiz Naeemur Rahman urged the government to cut down on official luxuries and unnecessary expenditures. He proposed practical measures including ending the provision of free fuel for government officials and reducing the use of large official vehicles in favor of smaller, more economical ones.

He questioned why the prime minister and the ruling authorities had not announced steps to limit government spending instead of making the public bear the financial burden.

In a separate statement posted on social media platform X, the JI emir reiterated that instead of reducing levies and taxes on petroleum products, the government had imposed a devastating increase of Rs55 per litre on petrol and diesel.

He further pointed out that international oil prices had remained at very low levels over the past five months, even reaching their lowest level in nearly five years at one stage. Despite that, he said, the government failed to pass the full benefit to the public and instead increased the petroleum levy. 'Now that prices are fluctuating again, the entire burden is immediately being transferred to the people,' he said, calling the move unacceptable.

Hafiz Naeemur Rahman demanded that the government immediately review the decision, reduce taxes and levies on petroleum products, and provide relief to the people already struggling with rising inflation and economic hardship.