Islamabad: The residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have started the ‘Fruit Boycott Campaign’ due to its skyrocketing prices throughout the country.
Through its campaign launched on social media, activists have appealed to the public in the country to participate in this campaign at a large scale against inflated prices of fruits. Some people called it “jihad” against the high prices and others called it a fruit boycott campaign here on Sunday.
It was ‘Man Made’ inflation of fruits because government officials were not seeing in any market to control profiteers and hoarders. People alleged that there was an underhand deal of government officials with profiteers and hoarders therefore they have been given a free hand to loot the public with both hands. In reality, all food and non-food items are being sold at skyrocketing prices and profiteers and hoarders with the full support of government officials are looting the public in both hands. This campaign was initiated by the concerned citizens on social media inviting people to protest against the soaring prices of all food/non-food items and particularly fruit prices which were completely out of reach of the common man.
The strategy used by citizens to fight against the high prices was to boycott the purchase of fruits for two days. Initially, this step was taken by the citizens of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Karachi but with the passage of time, people from all cities contributed their part and participated actively to make the campaign a success. Surprisingly, government officials from the district administrations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were seeing the whole drama with closed eyes. Not a single official was present here in markets to control ever-increasing inflation.
The well-placed sources informed ‘The News’ that profiteers and hoarders have hoarded all kinds of fruits in their stores to reap extra profit. The public submitted several complaints against the price hike but Rawalpindi and Islamabad administrations seem to be in deep slumber against it, the sources claimed.
At its initial stage, few people expressed interest in the initiative but when the message went viral on social media as well as the mainstream media large number of people got involved. The market scenario on day four was quite attention-grabbing and a fruitful impact of the campaign was witnessed by both the people as well as on the high authorities. Few buyers were seen around fruit vendors on the streets of the twin cities. It was obvious from the faces of vendors that they were worried about the ongoing situation. The citizens were asking about the rates of fruits but not purchasing them.
While sharing her views regarding the fruit boycott campaign, Norin Iftikhar, a housewife said that the fruit boycott was a brilliant success in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and it will help drop fruit prices. She further added that she stood against inflation and she participated in the boycott. Moreover, students from various universities expressed their full support for the campaign. They appreciated the efforts of ordinary citizens and said that they too boycott fruits.