The Pakistani Spectator

In Kamra, citizens attacked utility store and ran away with bags of flour. In Kohat, ladies captured a truck full of flour bags and distributed the bags among the whole village. In Karachi and Nawabshah, various incidents have been reported where people just snatched the flour after waiting for days in long lines and with on chance of getting it. In an agricultural country like Pakistan, these are terrible times.

Shortcut Aziz, the curse from America, told us last year that we had a bumper crop. The blessings of that bumper crop are that we are not even able to eat properly two times a day now. Exaggerations, ill-planning, hoarding and smuggling are the major reasons behind this flour crisis. Pakistan exported 502,096 metric tons of wheat in the year 2006-07 to Afghanistan as against 470,614 metric tons in the previous year. The export of wheat to Afghanistan was 521,718 metric tons in the year 2004-05.

Lots of wheat has been smuggled over to Afghanistan and Iran and beyond. Pakistani wheat is available in international markets but not in Pakistan. At last after much hue and cry, government has taken some actions by increasing the daily wheat quotas of provinces, deployment of rangers on the flour mills and godowns and strict check and balance at the borders. Just yesterday they captured 92 fully-loaded wheat carrying trucks in Chamman city of Balochistan at border.

Some influential people in Punjab were being involved in the hoarding to get maximum benefits from the crisis and to use the money in electioneering. Most of them belong to PML-Quisling. A list of hoarders, mostly from Punjab, compiled by intelligence agencies a few months ago was lying with the Secretary of Minfal, Mr Ziaur Rehman, but he was not sharing it with other ministries, according to newspaper reports. The newspaper sources also alleged that the government was hesitant about launching a crackdown on individuals, fearing that it might create problems for some people of the former ruling party in the general election.

When such influential lotas are involved in this biggest scandal of Pakistan’s history, then how could poor rangers control the situation? Also, the number of rangers are miserably low to cover all the mills, godowns and wheat distribution points. The more funny thing is that these rangers dont have any authorities. For instance, if they see anybody indulging in hoarding or smuggling, they would just inform the local Nazims (henchmen of smugglers and hoarders).

So are all these measures just cosmetics and yet another cajoling with us, the eternal sufferers?

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