In a joint meeting of the alliance leaders, it was noted that the government was charging Rs.26/- as the tax on a single liter of petroleum, which is height of injustice to the masses who are already burdened with other levies.

President of All Pakistan Organization of Small Traders, Mahmood Hamid said the petroleum companies and the government were sucking the blood of poor. He said if the government did not pay heed to their demands, they would convene a convention next month and decide the future line of action.

Hafizul Haq Hassanzai, patron of inter-provincial bus owners association and president of Karachi Rickshaw Taxi Association, said the government frequently increases the price of petroleum on the pretext of hike in world market but the natural gas was purely a domestic product and there was no excuse to increase its tariff.

Sindh Goods Truck Trailers’ Association president Haji Malik Ahmed Khan, Usman Sharif, president of Small Traders, Marriot Road and others also spoke.

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2012