In its attempts to pile on pressure on the ruling government, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it would stage a sit-in outside Karachi Press Club on Jan 30 to protest against massive hike in the prices of essential products, including petrol and electricity, and also against shortage of gas and fertiliser in the country. This announcement was made during the Kissan March which was held in Karachi and other parts of Sindh on the appeal of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to protest against urea shortage and other economic hardships faced by the growers in the country.

The grievances of the farmers are legitimate as they claim that they have not been getting adequate prices for their produce and are now being forced to stand in lines and pay high prices for sourcing fertiliser. This strategy could work well for the PPP in terms of applying further pressure on the PTI government given the street power farmers possess. Perhaps the opposition party is also taking inspiration from the protests that took place across the border.

The government must look into how these grievances of the farmers can be addressed. Attempts at gaslighting the victims or shifting blame on them—as was witnessed in a recent National Assembly session last week—will not do the ruling government any favours and will only further inflame the situation.

Source: THE NATION