8 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A man identified as Harsingh Kolhi died this Saturday crushed in a human stampede during a distribution of flour in the town of Mirpur Jas, in the province of Sindh, in southern Pakistan.
In recent weeks there have been protests over the lack of supply of wheat flour at a regulated price and this Saturday in Mirpur Jas there was great expectation for the delivery of a new shipment, reports the Pakistani newspaper ‘Dawn’.
Finally, the hundreds of people who had been waiting for hours attacked the trucks that transported the flour as soon as they arrived at the distribution point, the Guilistan e Baldia park, due to the inability of the agents deployed to contain the crowd. The deceased, aged 35, was the father of six children.
Subsidized flour sells for 65 rupees per kilo (0.27 euro cents), while free market flour sells for between 140 and 160 rupees per kilo.
After the death, the enraged crowd took the body to the local press club where a heartfelt protest was held against the authorities responsible for the distribution of subsidized food due to the lack of supply.
In addition, they blocked the main road leading to Hiderabad by placing the body of the fatality in the center of the road and chanting slogans against both provincial and federal authorities.
The protesters blame the rise in the price of flour on a cartel of millers who are in cahoots with the authorities to distribute flour at a regulated price. They also denounce that the subsidized flour is sold illegally at market price in local businesses.
The opposition has already criticized the local Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government for making “mere cosmetic accommodations” to demands for more flour supplies and have demanded legal action against the district authorities.
