PAKISTAN’S new currency was the bestseller yesterday [April 1]. It was the most sought after “commodity” in the market. Banks and shops were all besieged by crowds in search of new coins and bank notes. The demand far exceeded the supply and only a few fortunate ones could collect the full set of the new currency. Not all banks had secured the new currency from the Reserve Bank, but those who did soon ran out of stock… .

Not all denominations of coins were easily available in the market. One anna coins found ready buyers and five and six pice, and being within the reach of the poorest they were most in demand. The replacement of the King’s effigy by the crescent and star appealed to the religious minds but a section questioned the propriety of doing away with the King’s effigy while Pakistan was still within the Commonwealth.

[Meanwhile, it was reported from London that] There are signs that the political problem of the United States Negro population “may shortly become more acute than at any time since the Civil War”, an article in the Socialist New Statesman declared today [April 1].

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023