Although it is no more surprising for the masses to watch Mr. Prime minister relinquishing his promises with every passing day, but certain praxis are now beyond the understanding of a common man. A political organization that always gave voice to the poor have now started to act unmoved by the misery of the poor. Let’s take the recent changes in petrol prices as an ultimate example of this. A record increase of approximately 26rs has left the poor helpless in many areas of the country. The kind of blame-game that commenced subsequently, where the Oil Marketing Companies [OMCs] blamed Government for not letting them import the additional fuel for the following months based upon their calculation of lower demand caused by prevailing lockdowns across the country and on the other hand the Government blamed OMCs, calling them a ‘mafia’ for restricting the supply, achieved nothing except the poor masses suffering. A similar situation was witnessed back when the sugar crises emerged, the entire blame was levied upon a ‘mafia’ which later turned out to be among the close aides of Mr. PM. Now when the issue of PIA pilots with fake licenses have emerged, once again the government blamed everything on an organized ‘mafia’ as a cause for this. The question here is that how can an administration get away by blaming everything on a mafia without realizing their own misapprehensions. And even in circumstances where the situation turns disorderly, the government is fully authorized to use their strict muscle rather than giving up against those not cooperating or causing a disruption in supplies. Such maladministration and below par calculations from within the government authorities ultimately makes the poor even more miserable.
MALIK MASHHOOD
LAHORE.
