KARACHI, Oct 21: The local chapter of Pakistan People’s Party on Tuesday staged a token hunger strike outside Karachi Press Club against soaring prices of essential items and utility bills, unemployment, and deteriorating law and order situation.

The protesters, led by the local leadership of the party, Muzaffar Shujra and Habibuddin Junaidi, besides other office- bearers, raised slogans against the recent rise in petroleum products and other utilities and said the government policies were anti-people and had added to their miseries.

They demanded resignation of the government, which they said, had deprived the people of their livelihood and security. They also demanded pay-rise in proportionate to price-hike.

They demanded more jobs in view of forex reserves soaring up to 11 billion dollars. The PPP activists reaffirmed their solidarity with their self-exiled leader Benazir Bhutto and demanded withdrawal of cases against her and her husband Asif zardari.

Deputy secretary general of the PPP, Senator Raza Rabbani, while speaking on the occasion, accused the government of messing up things on the economic front which, he said, was evident from the fact that the government had not transferred benefits of 11 billion dollar forex reserves to the common man.

Provincial president of the PPP and leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khuhro, said that it appalling that Musharraf regime had forced people to commit suicide.

He said that Pakistan was being governed by undeclared martial law and the parliament had not been given due respect. The government , he claimed, was a puppet government.