February 18, 2002	Monday	Zilhaj 5, 1422

KARACHI, Feb 17: Political parties have criticized the government’s decision to further increase the prices of petroleum products and for upward rates of utility bills.

Demanding withdrawal of the decision, the Pakistan People’s Party and Jamaat-i-Islami said the increase would multiply the miseries of the common man.

PPP Karachi, in one of its resolutions adopted at an emergency meeting with Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra in the chair expressed concern over what it said failure of the local government system, price hikes, lawlessness and observed that the government instead of providing relief to the people had been striving to prolong its rule.

It urged the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of the situation, curtail its granted ruling period to the government and order for setting up of a neutral interim government.

The PPP also expressed concern over implementation of IMF and World Bank directives for privatization, golden handshake, which it said, had resulted in unemployment. The meeting was of the view that common man’s miseries had been compounded instead of any benefit from Pakistan’s being frontline state in the world coalition against terrorism.

The meeting demanded that the Lyari Expressway project, which was conceived by the people’s government, should be executed after taking its affectees into confidence.

The meeting was attended by members of the central executive committee and federal council from Karachi along with district office bearers.

The Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui, in a statement, said by increasing POL prices the military government had proved that, like previous governments, the present rulers were unaware of the difficulties being faced by the common man. The government should be aware how the common man suffered as increase in POL prices had an overarching effect, because it raised the cost of transportation.

Pointing out that the government had raised the prices of petroleum products for the third time since siding with the US after September 11, 2001, he asked now what is the stand of the finance minister and his supporters who were of the view that our economic difficulties would be over by siding with the US.

He termed the increase in the prices of petroleum products anti-people, and said further increase in prices would increase the pauperization of the masses. Many people had already committed suicide after being unable to provide for themselves and their families. The JI leader said the government had failed to provide relief to the people.

Meanwhile, the Haq Parast members of the defunct National Assembly have expressed concern over federal government’s decision to withdraw the subsidy from domestic consumers of the Sui gas.

They said the people of the country, and those in Sindh in particular, had already been suffering from the burden of price hikes and unemployment which had made their life miserable, forcing them to commit suicide.

They ap