Pak: People hold demonstrations against inflation across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Jan 09, 2023
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], January 9 : People on Sunday protested over rising flour and other vital commodity prices in several Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cities and demanded that the government take immediate action to regulate prices and guarantee the supply of daily-use food products in the province, Dawn reported.
Despite the rain, protesters in Khwazakhela and Mingora, Swat, flocked to the streets to voice their disapproval at the unprecedented increase in the cost of basic food supplies. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was encouraged to raise the flour quota for SWAT by the local traders' union.
According to local media, Siraj-ul Haq, the leader of Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), has started a national protest movement against the greatest inflation in history for which he urged the populace to participate fully in protests against the scarcity of flour, chicken, ghee, sugar, and pulses as well as the exorbitant prices of other vital items on Sunday in all districts and tehsil headquarters.
Notably, the flour prices touched a record high in Swat where a 20 kg flour bag had reached PKR 3,200. The protesters said the people were worried about the flour crisis and needed immediate relief, according to Dawn.
Moreover, SWAT traders federation president Abdul Rahim also warned the authorities that if steps were not taken to control inflation the traders would be forced to call for big protests across the Malakand division.
Meanwhile in Charsadda, despite the rain, the people of the Tarnab area came out on the streets against skyrocketing prices of wheat flour and other food items. The protesters demanded the government to control inflation and provide relief to the people.
Numerous tribesmen from Khyber, including political activists, protested price increases at Bacha Khan Chowk in the main Landi Kotal Bazaar, Dawn reported.
Workers from Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Shangla blocked the Bisham-Swat route in Baily Baba Bazaar on Sunday in protest of the recent wave of inflation, particularly the steep increase in the price of flour.
Despite snowfall and rain, PTI employees gathered in Bailay Baba bazaar to document their protest against inflation. Waqar Ahmad Khan, the chairman of the PTI Alpuri tehsil, led the protesters.
