A man identified as Harsingh Kolhi was crushed to death on Saturday in a human stampede during a flour distribution in Mirpur Jas village in Sindh province in southern Pakistan.
In recent weeks there have been protests over the lack of supply of wheat flour at regulated price and this Saturday in Mirpur Jas there was great expectation for the delivery of a new shipment, reports Pakistani daily ‘Dawn’.
In the end, hundreds of people who had been waiting for hours stormed the trucks carrying the flour as soon as they arrived at the distribution point, the Guilistan e Baldia park, when the officers deployed were unable to contain the crowd. The deceased, 35 years old, was the father of six children.
Subsidized flour sells for 65 rupees a kilo (0.27 euro cents), while free market flour sells for between 140 and 160 rupees a kilo.
After the death, the enraged crowd has carried the body to the local press club where a heartfelt protest was held against the authorities responsible for the distribution of subsidized food because of the lack of supply.
They also cut off the main road leading to Hiderabad by placing the body of the deceased in the middle of the road and chanting slogans against both provincial and federal authorities.
The protesters blamed the rise in the price of flour on a cartel of millers who are allegedly in cahoots with the authorities in the distribution of flour at regulated prices. They also denounce that the subsidized flour is sold illegally at market price in local stores.
The opposition has already criticized the local government of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for making «merely cosmetic arrangements» in the face of demands for increased flour supply and have demanded legal action against the district authorities.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
