HighLights
  1. PTI lawmakers used donkey carts to protest rising fuel prices.
  2. Protest aimed to show common people's financial struggles with petrol.
  3. Pakistan's fuel prices reached record levels, leading to austerity.

Pakistan Fuel Prices: Pakistan’s rising fuel prices sparked an unusual protest in Karachi on Friday, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers arrived at the Sindh Assembly on donkey carts. The protesting leaders said the move was meant to highlight how expensive petrol has become for ordinary people, making even daily travel increasingly difficult.

Donkey Cart Protest Outside Assembly

The protest was held outside the main gate of the Sindh Assembly, where PTI workers and provincial lawmakers gathered with placards and raised slogans against the government. Among those taking part was PTI MPA Sajjad Ali Soomro, who travelled on a donkey cart from a nearby area to the assembly.

“The ministers and (treasury) MPAs should also reach the assembly the same way on donkey carts," Ali said while holding a placard describing the fuel price hike as a "petrol bomb dropped on the people". He said the protest was aimed at showing the financial difficulties faced by ordinary citizens because of rising fuel costs.

ALSO READ: Fuel Cuts, Vehicle Bans, No Foreign Trips: Pakistan Announces Austerity Measures Amid Rising Fuel Costs

"Petrol has become so expensive that we cannot even come to the assembly in our vehicles," Ali said, adding that people were being affected by the government's policies. Images from the protest have also gone viral on social media.

Fuel Prices Hit Record Levels

The protest followed the latest increase in fuel prices, which pushed petrol to Pakistani Rs 390.79 per litre and high-speed diesel to Rs 424.92 per litre. The Pakistani government has also brought back austerity measures in response to the fuel price surge. These include directing markets to close by 9 pm and reducing fuel allocations for official vehicles by 50 per cent for three months.

Government Responds To Protest

The unusual demonstration also drew a response from Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah. He dismissed the protest as a "photo session" and said the PTI lawmakers should have travelled on donkey carts from their home constituencies instead of using them only for a short protest near the assembly gates.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Blast: 16 Cops Among 21 Killed In Suicide Bomb Attack At Mosque During Friday Prayers In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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