Govt cut fuel prices, but upped gas rate: Siraj

JI chief says nobody takes responsibility for country’s 'terrible' situation

LAHORE:

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Sunday said the caretaker government had reduced the prices of petroleum products but at the same time increased the rate of gas by 20 per cent.

“From the president and prime minister to police, everyone is admitting that the situation is terrible, but no one is accepting the responsibility for it,” he added while addressing an event in Lahore.

The JI chief was referring to the interim government’s move on Saturday to decrease the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HDS) by Rs8 and Rs11 per litre respectively and on the same day, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notifying an increase of Rs21 per kg in the rate of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for the month of October.

It notified that from Sunday, a domestic cylinder of LPG would cost Rs3,080 instead of its earlier price of Rs2,833. Similarly, the price of a commercial LPG cylinder was pushed up from Rs10,902 to Rs11,849.

Read POL prices slashed by up to Rs11 per litre

Speaking to the participants of the event, Siraj pointed out that the currency of Afghanistan was almost three times stronger than that of Pakistan.

He added that all other countries in the region including Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and India were developed. “Is our economy doing well and the security situation improving?” he raised the question.

In June this year, the JI chief lashed out at the previous and current rulers, holding them responsible for the country’s boat being badly stuck in the vortex of political and economic crises.

Siraj maintained that the tsunami of corruption, inflation and unemployment in the country was because of the incompetence of the previous PTI and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rulers.

The JI chief continued that the decades-old beggar’s bowl before others, especially the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had sealed the country’s fate with destruction and misery.

Read more ‘Deteriorating’ law & order situation worries JI chief

Siraj claimed that only his party could break this beggar’s bowl and place the country on the path to development. “We can make it possible through the system of Zakat and Ushur,” he continued.

He maintained that when there was repentance from war with the Almighty with the abolition of usury, then He would surely assist the country.

“The only option is Jamaat-e-Islami and the people should support us. That day is not far when the Almighty's religion will be established in Pakistan and blessings would be poured from the sky and treasures found in the ground,” he added.