JI to launch drive against price hikes after Eid: Siraj

The emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Senator Sirajul Haq, has announced the launch of a countrywide campaign after Eid-ul-Fitr against skyrocketing prices of essential goods and unemployment.

He made this announcement at Iftar-dinner in Lyari on Monday. He said this campaign would be launched for the rights of the poor people. Senator Haq said that in this campaign the JI would not be a party to any protest plan of the PML-N and the PPP, and it would struggle all alone.

He said the campaign had earlier been deferred due to Ramazan. The JI leader said that while the devaluation of the currency was taking place rapidly due to the dollar going high, the government had surrendered before the IMF, and the prices of essential goods were rising and the masses were being forced to commit suicide.

Lashing out at the government, he said the rulers did not have a road map to resolve the economic crisis and they were busy in only getting loans from the IMF. The senator was of the view that the IMF would never work for the interest of the people and since it had arrived to strike a loan agreement with the government, the prices of gas, petrol and power had been increased.

He added that the prices of 45 medicines had been increased by 200 percent. Referring to Karachi, Senator Haq stated that there was no public transport and no cleanliness, and the city had become a garbage den.

Thousand of labourers were jobless as industries were downsizing in the prevailing conditions, he said, adding that the JI campaign against the government was essential. Sunni Tehrik (ST) head Mohammad Sarwat Ejaz Qadri said they would launch a campaign against the price hike of essential goods as well as against the rising gas and power tariff.

He made this announcement at an Iftar-dinner on Sunday. The ST, he said, was standing with the masses and it would support the poor people in this hour of crisis. He said that while the government had surrendered before the IMF, his party was with the masses.

The ST chief said inflationary pressure was mounting and the government had miserably failed to control the prices. He said ministers continued to ask the people to be patient, but there was no improvement in the situation.

Also on Monday, the Majlis-e-Wahadat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) also announced the launch of a campaign against the price hike of essential goods as well as petroleum prices likely to be further increased.

A spokesman said the masses were being crushed under the grinding machine of inflation, and the campaign would be launched for the benefit of the masses. The price rises had made the lives of the people miserable, he added.

The rulers, the MWM spokesman, said had surrendered to the IMF and forced the government to levy heavy taxes on the nation. He asked the government to look for some alternatives to improve the country’s economy.

The current government was not different from the previous governments as it was squeezing the masses under heavy taxes. The spokesman said that while the dollar had gone to its peak, the education books imported from abroad would go beyond the reach of poor parents, the school fees would also be increased as would the school van fares.