Shoukat Lohar
THE petrol hike has made life even harder for ordinary people already burdened by unemployment, high electricity bills, gas shortages, low wages and poverty.
The government may call it an adjustment but for poor families it feels like slow destruction. Petrol is not just fuel; it is linked to survival. When fuel prices rise, transport, vegetables, medicines, education and all daily necessities become expensive. Factories increase prices and household budgets collapse. For labourers and salaried people it feels as if their hard-earned income is being taken away through fuel taxes.
The widening gap between rich and poor has deepened public frustration. Wealthy people continue to enjoy luxurious lifestyles while ordinary citizens struggle to survive. People question why governments repeatedly burden the poor while powerful groups avoid paying their fair share of taxes. A rickshaw driver, teacher or labourer pays hidden taxes on every litre of petrol while influential landlords, commercial centres and wealthy elites enjoy loopholes and protection. Poor citizens are easy targets because they lack power, connections and influence.
The government asks people to sacrifice more despite the fact that they have already sacrificed enough. Labourers sacrifice food, middle-class fathers sacrifice dreams, mothers sacrifice their own hunger for their children and students sacrifice education because transport costs are too high. Meanwhile ministers advise patience while enjoying official cars, free fuel, free electricity and luxurious residences funded by taxpayers. Ordinary people have tightened their belts so much that they can barely breathe.
Inflation has turned daily life into a painful struggle. Fathers stare helplessly at grocery bills while mothers reduce meals to keep households running. Pensioners ration medicine because they cannot afford treatment and students walk long distances because transport has become unaffordable. Shopkeepers wait in empty markets for customers who can no longer buy basic necessities. The government speaks of economic growth but that growth does not reach labourers sleeping hungry after twelve-hour shifts, widows choosing between bread and medicine or teachers whose salaries no longer cover expenses. The tax system remains deeply unfair. Poor people pay indirect taxes every day on fuel, electricity, food and transport while wealthy groups escape accountability. Although the streets may appear quiet, frustration and anger continue to grow. History shows that hunger and injustice cannot be tolerated forever. Every petrol hike feels like another chain around the necks of struggling citizens while every new tax deepens their suffering. The elite remain disconnected from reality as their children study abroad and their homes remain comfortable while poor neighbourhoods sit in darkness.
Millions of hardworking Pakistanis feel abandoned. Labourers work under the burning sun, drivers spend endless hours on roads, teachers continue despite anxiety and mothers struggle daily to feed their families. These ordinary people form the foundation of the nation yet they are treated as if they do not matter. The government must stop punishing citizens, reduce petrol prices, provide relief and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. No nation can prosper by sacrificing its poor for the comfort of the rich. A society that fails to protect its weakest people ultimately endangers everyone, including the wealthy themselves.
—The writer is Assistant Professor, English Language Development Centre, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro, Sindh.
