Petrol prices have been skyrocketing. In addition to other consequences, this increase mainly causes rise in production cost. Owing to higher cost of production, prices of all commodities are rising, putting them out of the reach of the common man.
Sadly, the government urges the people to reduce their expenditure. But why should it always be the public who should bear the brunt due to follies of the politicians?
In Pakistan, unfortunately, it is always the people who bear the burden of inconsistent policies by the government.
As a result of such policies, only the common man will suffer, while the upper class and the political elite will remain unaffected. This will further push more people below the poverty line.
Moreover, the middle class will struggle to sustain its living standards, and the lower class will hardly make ends meet. This will increase the crime rate, making the law and order situation worse.
We have already seen ugly scenes in Sri Lanka. The elite better adopt austerity instead of asking the masses to bear the burden of the economic policies pursued by successive governments. If that is not done, I fear social unrest may cause further problems which can only be disastrous, for we already have a political crisis and a polarised society to deal with.
AIJAZ ALI ARISAR
UMERKOT
