PESHAWAR: Jamaat-i-Islami held protest demonstrations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday against the imposition of fuel price adjustment in the current electricity bills and unprecedented inflation.

In a statement, the party said that the federal government was “extorting money” from masses through inflated bills and other taxes and it would not accept such oppressive policies of the government. The statement termed it “economic terrorism.”

The JI held protest rallies in Peshawar, Chitral, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Nowshera and other towns of the province.

Claims govt extorting money from people through various taxes

In Peshawar, the Jamaat workers took out a protest rally from Masjid Mohabat Khan, which was led by party’s district chief Ateeq Rehman and others. The protesters chanted slogans against the government.

The speakers on this occasion rejected the induction of fuel price adjustment in the current electricity bills and said that masses would not accept excessive bills.

They said that KP produced 5,700MW electricity and its total consumption was around 3,000MW. They said that consumers in KP did not need to buy electricity at the rate of Rs18 per unit.

In Lower Dir, Jamaat-i-Islami held a protest rally in Timergara against the inflated electricity bills and imposition of the tax in the garb of fuel price adjustment (FPA).

Hundreds of JI activists came on the road and gathered at Timergara Gorgorai Chowk. Holding banners, the protesters also chanted slogans against the government for its failure to control price hike.

The rally was addressed by former MPAs Izazul Mulk and Saeed Gul, traders’ leader Haji Anwaruddin and others. They termed the FPA a direct tax on the power consumers.

The speakers alleged that the government was looting the people one way or the other.

They said the FPA was two times higher than the original price of power units consumed.

They demanded the government to immediately withdraw the FPA as it was an injustice with the consumers.

In Swabi, protests against inflated power bills continued on Friday. So far, Jamaat-i-Islami, PML-N and welfare bodies have staged protest rallies and demanded the Peshawar Electric Supply Company to immediately withdraw the FPA charges from the power bills.

Da Haq Awaz, a local welfare body led by Ihsanul Haq, staged a protest and called on the people to come out of their homes because the government did not want to resolve this issue by peaceful means.

In Shangla, the Jamaat-i-Islami activists and residents of Puran and Martung tehsil blocked Alpuri-Puran road on Friday to record their protest against hefty increase in the electricity charges and outages in the area.

The protest call was given by Jamaat-i-Islami and its local chapter took out rallies against inflation and inclusion of high charges in power bills on account of FPA. The protesters shouted slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government for sending them inflated bills.

Addressing the protesters, Shangla JI leader Said Ghaffar said that the failed policies of the incumbent government had increased problems for the people.

“We will never accept imposition of new irrational taxes on the people for implementing the IMF conditions,” he said and added that the government should withdraw the FPA charges and avoid economic murder of the masses.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2022