PESHAWAR/KHAR: Jamaat-i-Islami has announced to hold protest rallies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday (today) against price hike.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, JI provincial chief Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said that rulers failed to run the country’s affairs. He said that only solution to the prevailing situation was fresh elections. He said that a team of experienced cabinet members headed by a competent and honest prime minister could steer the country out of the economic crisis and bring change in lives of people.

The JI leader held federal and provincial governments responsible for price hike and flour crisis in the country. He said that government exported wheat and now it was importing costlier wheat. He alleged that the entire process was supervised by PTI leader Jehangir Tareen. “The government should arrest Tareen to conduct probe into the crisis,” he said.

Mr Khan said that inflation had made life of people miserable. He said that government itself admitted hike in prices of medicines. Despite increase in tariffs, natural gas and electricity were not available to the consumers, he added.

He said the price of fuel was declining in the international market but in Pakistan its rate was frequently increased which led to price hike. “Those, who talked about creating job opportunities for more than 10 million, unemployed 3.4 million people during the last 16 months,” he said.

He said that Pakistani rupee had lost its value even against the currency of neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India.

The Bajaur chapter of JI has also decided to hold protest demonstration against the flour crisis and price hike.

The decision was made during a meeting of the party held in Bajaur tribal district with its chief Maulana Waheed Gul in the chair.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, JI district information secretary Hayat Mohammad said that participants of the meeting expressed grave concerns over the flour crisis and termed it failure of government.

As per the schedule, Mr Hayat said, the demonstration would be held in Khar on Saturday at 9am.

He said that besides JI workers, activists of other parties would also attend the demonstration.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2020