On Tuesday, protests and clashes over the distribution of free government wheat flour were witnessed in several parts of Peshawar. The city’s police revealed their inability to handle the situation and requested that the province administration enlist the support of the Frontier Constabulary (FC).
A number of locations throughout the city experienced unrest, including Ashraf Road, Khyber Colony, Yousufabad, Ittehad Colony, Zaryab Colony, Faqirabad, Ring Road, and Badhber. Due to protesters blocking Kohat Road over not obtaining the free flour, the area experienced severe traffic congestion.
A similar scenario caused demonstrators in Hayatabad to obstruct Masjid-e-Zarghoni Road. They also blocked a road in Zaryab Colony.
They lamented that despite spending the entire day in huge lines, they still had to go home empty-handed. They asserted that political connection and nepotism were both factors considered in the distribution of flour. The number of complaints about not receiving free government flour is growing every day.
Due to the sluggish flour distribution on Monday, a stampede resulted in numerous injuries in Peshawar. Police using batons to maintain order further exacerbated the situation. Nine people were trampled during the incident, with one person succumbing to their injuries at the hospital.
Five people have died in similar events across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the beginning of Ramazan. On the first day, one person was killed and eight others injured in a stampede for free flour in Charsadda. People were also injured in Swabi and Kohat. Another individual lost his life in Bannu after a flour mill’s perimeter wall fell just before distribution.
In Sahiwal, stampedes at free flour centres in the Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, and Okara districts of the province on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of an elderly woman, a man and the injuries of 56 people, including 45 women, as the mismanagement in the distribution has persisted since the government started the exercise and the populace started scurrying to distribution points.
The app used to confirm the beneficiaries purportedly had a technical issue and ceased to function. There were apparently more than 1,500 women present in the stadium who had come to collect flour, and the app link remained down and did not restart for three to four hours.
As a result, there was a huge crowd at the free flour distribution centre, and many were impatient due to the lengthy wait for the system to resume functioning. In the stampede, one woman, Naseem Akhter, died and more than 45 women and two men were hurt.
A 73-year-old man, Muhammad Anwar, from tehsil Liaqatpur in Rahim Yar Khan who had come to get free flour at a distribution point at the Govt High School Taranda Muhammad Pannah died earlier in another incident. There was a rush of people at the centre, and he was reportedly shoved until he fell and suffered grave injuries. Some people claimed that the chaos had happened as a result of the deputy commissioner’s protocol upon his arrival at the facility.
Due to the massive influx of people, the wall of the banquet hall in Shehr Sultan, Muzaffargarh, where the flour centre was put up fell, injuring seven individuals. The rescue team admitted that a lot of people caused the banquet hall’s mud wall to collapse.
Four women suffered injuries and two fell unconscious at the free flour supply point at Depalpur, Okara. The intense crowding at the centre caused a stampede. Four women were hurt as they fell to the ground and were run over by others.
At least five ladies were hurt in a stampede at a location where free flour was distributed in the southern district of Hasilpur, Punjab.
A video shows a truck carrying flour being looted in Peshawar, Pakistan.
A truck carrying flour looted in Peshawar, Pakistan as the country faces it’s worst economic and political crisis since formation and is on the verge of debt default.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 28, 2023
Catastrophic flooding, exploding inflation, energy shortages and food shortages …
🔊 pic.twitter.com/Lb5C2gJv3h
More clips coming out of Pakistan exhibit police action on citizens waiting to get free flour as well as long queues at free flour distribution centres.
2. This is the situation in #Pakistan‘s #Peshawar..
— Tarangini das 🇮🇳💁♀️ (@Tarangini_das47) March 26, 2023
People are in the long queue in #Peshawar for a bag of flour..#PakistanUnderFasicsm pic.twitter.com/6EMTHWGVcB
People can be seen in distress due to flour shortage and their severe financial situation.
5. Pakistan citizens are struggling to get free flour under Ramadan relief package.
— Tarangini das 🇮🇳💁♀️ (@Tarangini_das47) March 26, 2023
Pakistan government has announced to provide special #Ramadan relief package, for around 15 million underprivileged households to get free wheat flour in Ramadan.#Ramzan2023 #pakistan pic.twitter.com/xeFUub2fCI
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the employees of Pakistan Railways (PR) continued to demonstrate against the non-payment of their salaries for the second day running. A large number of protesters gathered at the PR diesel engine shed in Lahore. They demanded immediate payment of their salaries. The railways’ BC and class IV employees are yet to receive their pay.
Workers protested at the diesel engine shed, washing line, railways headquarters, and division offices across the country at the behest of the Pakistan Railways Employees (PREM) Union. The diesel engine shed employees organised a massive protest and halted the engines.
Pakistan is witnessing violent protests which often lead to fatalities due to its continuous economic turmoil and inflation reaching a nearly 50-year high. Political instability has further added to the festering woes of our hostile neighbour.
