QUETTA: Hundreds of people on Sunday took out a protest rally in the provincial capital against what they said was the Balochistan government’s failure to tame rapid inflation, as the prices of essential commodities, including food items, have skyrocketed.

The protesters appealed to citizens to stop buying fruits, cold drinks, beef, mutton, poultry, vegetable and milk for some time to force “profiteers and hoarders” of food items to slash prices.

The participants of the rally marched through different roads of the provincial capital carrying banners and placards inscribed with their demands.

After marching through different roads, the protesters assembled in front of the Quetta Press Club and chanted slogans against the government and district administration for their failure to control a huge increase in prices of food items during Ramazan.

Abdul Mateen Akhandzada, Mir Aslam Rind, Nazar Bareech, Raza Wakil, Sardar Habib Bareech and others spoke at the protest rally and slammed the government for failing to control the rising prices of food and other necessary items.

They accused the administration of joining hands with the “mafias” to create artificial inflation in the province. This supposed collusion, they said, had emboldened shopkeepers and vendors to throw official rate lists in the dustbin and raise prices at whim.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2023