KARACHI, May 23: Various political leaders have urged the government to take immediate measures to provide relief to the people by initiating action against hoarders, profiteers and smugglers.

They were speaking at a press conference held at the Jamaat-i-Islami’s Idara Noor-i-Haq on Friday.

The JI announced that it would launch a public mobilisation campaign in collaboration with other political parties against rising prices of essential commodities, increasing poverty and unemployment.

Leaders who attended the conference included Prof Ghafoor Ahmad and Mohammad Hussain Mehnati of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Saleem Zia of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Usman Baloch of the Pakistan National Party, Siddique Rathore of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan and Basharat Mirza of the Pakistan Democratic Party.

Prof Ghafoor said that despite the fact that the people of this country had rejected President Pervez Musharraf and his allies in the February 18 election, his polices were still being pursued. As a result, he added, people continued to face hardships as the elected government had failed to provide the promised relief to the people.

He said that prices of essential commodities had become beyond the reach of the common man. The JI leader deplored that the situation had turned so grave that people were left with no choice but to commit suicides.

Mr Mehnati said that despite good crops of wheat and rice, a crisis of wheat flour and rice continued in the country and people were forced to wait in long queues outside the Utility Stores to get these commodities.

Making a comparison between the current prices of essential items and those of the year 1999, he said that in 1999 flour was sold at Rs8 a kilo and now it was available, if at all, at Rs25 a kilo. Similarly, sugar prices had gone up from Rs16 to Rs28 per kilo, red chilli powder from Rs60 to Rs240 per kilo.

The JI leader said that Pakistan was getting petrol for its requirement free-of-cost and at discounted rates from various Gulf countries and therefore it remained unaffected by the fluctuations of oil prices in the international market, but still the masses were being fleeced by regularly increasing the prices of petroleum products.

The PML-N leader, Salim Zia, termed the price-hike the outcome of mismanagement and corruption.