People, businessmen in Pakistan observed countrywide bandh against exorbitant electricity bills – Dainik Savera Times

Islamabad: Amid skyrocketing inflation in Pakistan, people including traders are on strike across the country and a large number of people are taking to the streets against rising cost of living and exorbitant electricity bills. According to The News, the recent hike in power tariff has angered the common consumers as well as traders of the country who are already facing hardships due to back-breaking inflation. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has ruled out any possibility of immediate relief, despite public protests and refusal to pay the increased rate bills.

He has said that there is no option for the consumers but to pay their bills. To bring the country’s economy back on track, the interim government is trying to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the issue. According to a report in The News, Kakar said, “The electricity bill will have to be paid and the conditions of the IMF will have to be implemented.” Meanwhile, the public and traders have joined Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and are supporting the bandh/hartal call, during which small and big commercial shops and shops in other cities including Karachi, Peshawar, Sargodha and Sheikhupura remained closed. Business closed. The Punjab Bar Council also declared a strike against price rise and lawyers also remained absent from the courts.

In Karachi, citizens protested against price rise in Shah Latif Town, leading to traffic halt on the national highway, The News reported. District Bar lawyers in Faisalabad also announced a strike. Citizens protested by burning tires and blocking roads in the city on Canal Road and Digikot, demanding abolition of taxes. As reported by The News, transgenders in Rawalpindi surrounded the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) office carrying banners and placards and demanded the government to immediately roll back the hike in petrol and electricity prices.