Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman: People Are Being Deceived in the Name of the Winter Package, Shahbaz Sharif’s Claims of Reducing Inflation Are False
LAHORE (Web News)
Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Engineer Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, said that the public is being deceived in the name of the electricity winter package, and the claims of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif regarding reducing inflation are lies. He stated that the entire government is built on falsehoods and based on Form 47. The elite class does not pay taxes, while the poor and salaried individuals are being drained. He added that Jamaat-e-Islami is a democratic party, and no other party in the country is democratic; parties exist on the basis of inheritance, will, and one-man shows. Those who do not support Jamaat-e-Islami do not want a clean and transparent government in the country. Jamaat-e-Islami is working for the supremacy of Allah’s Deen. The party’s membership campaign is ongoing, and the nation is urged to join the movement.
He expressed these views while addressing a dinner gathering in Model Town, Lahore. Among those present at the occasion were Jamaat-e-Islami’s Secretary-General Amir-ul-Azeem, Secretary Information Qaiser Sharif, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Central, Javed Qasuri, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore district, Ziauddin Ansari Advocate, Malik Shahid Aslam, and Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami South Lahore district, Azhar Bilal.
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that the government claims that inflation is decreasing, but they calculate it in such a way that if the price of an item increased by 20 rupees last November, it increased by only 18 rupees this year, making the price rise from 100 to 138 rupees, but according to Shahbaz Sharif, inflation has decreased. These are the government’s indices. If inflation is really decreasing, why aren’t the prices of industry, trade, electricity, and petrol coming down? Why are the people suffering? Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are being paid billions of rupees in capacity charges, even for the electricity that is not being produced.
He further mentioned that Jamaat-e-Islami held a protest against high electricity prices and inflation, and has been relentlessly pursuing the issue with IPPs. He said that yesterday the government announced a Winter Package to deceive the public. The government is claiming that electricity rates have been reduced, but if a consumer uses 500 units last November, and 600 units in December this year, the government will reduce the rate for the extra 100 units by 6 rupees per unit, while the remaining 500 units will remain at the same rate. For domestic consumers, the formula is that if they use 25% more electricity, the tariff remains the same. The rulers deceive the public by confusing them.
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman added that the entire government is based on lies. While the prices of petroleum products have decreased in the international market, they have been increased here. The people are being burdened with inflation. He demanded a reduction of at least 100 rupees per liter in petrol prices. Without reducing electricity tariffs and petrol prices, the economy cannot be fixed. The levy of 60 rupees per liter is unjust. Protests will continue until the IPP agreements are terminated.
He also said that for 77 years, quality education has not been available in the country. Nearly 2 crore children are out of school, and only 1.9 million young people are in universities, which is less than 1% of their age group. At the primary level, there are 250,000 public and private schools that do not provide quality education. The Punjab government is planning to privatize 14,000 more schools. Despite a combined education budget of 2,000 billion rupees in all provinces, the government is still not providing education to the public.
He mentioned that before starting the protest, the Minister for Energy had stated that they could not talk to the IPPs. However, after the protests, the government made an agreement with them and closed five IPPs. All IPPs should be shut down, and the military foundations should also be part of the negotiations. The sacrifice should not only be from the people, but the generals should also make sacrifices.