MIRPUR: Amid a shutter-down strike in Baloch against the rise in the price of wheat, residents took to the streets to raise voice against what they termed the government’s failure to keep prices of basic commodities in check.
Led by Anjuman-e-Tajran (local traders’ body) President Sabbir Hussain and elders of the remote town of Rawalakot district, such as Sardar Muhammad Hussain and Mahboob Ahmed, dozens of local residents rallied the streets and raised slogans against the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government.
After converging at the Kutchery Chowk, the speakers rebuked the government for increasing the price of the 20 kilogramme bag of wheat from Rs620 to Rs700 – an increase of Rs4 per kg – and demanded the AJK Food minister to reduce the price immediately and provide what to the people at subsidized rates. They maintained that the prices of basic food items such as oil, rice, wheat, pulses, milk, sugar and meat are already out of reach of the common man and further increase in the prices will lead them to starvation.
The speakers also censured the government for failing to control prolonged and unscheduled loadsheddings in AJK, and the water shortage caused as a result of the outages.
The speakers said that the “incapable and corrupt rulers have made it difficult for the poor to survive”. They termed the incumbent government “the most corrupt regime in the state’s history”.
The protesters later dispersed peacefully.http://tribune.com.pk/story/405182/protest-in-ajk-as-wheat-price-soars-people-take-to-the-streets/
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