Price spiral: People vent their anger in a novel way

PESHAWAR: A group of people held a mock funeral of the official authorities somewhere in the province to express anguish at the soaring prices of essential commodities and policies of the government.

The photos and video of the mock funeral went viral on social media. The participants seemed to be in a hurry to offer the “last rituals” and left the place quickly. It is possible they were scared but still wanted to do it to convey a message that the government was losing popularity.

The people belonging to various walks of life while commenting on the video offered mixed reactions, saying the anti-people policies of the government prompted those seen in the video to resort to such steps.

The PTI supporters ridiculed the opposition parties and their supporters for posting insulting remarks and videos on social media. They argued that the nation has realised the double standards and dual policies of the corrupt leaders. “Though we accept that the price-hike has caused problems for the poor people, the nation still knows that the PTI is not responsible for it,” said a daily wager working in a juice shop in Peshawar Saddar.

Sanobar, 39, from the Khyber district said he was a strong supporter of the PTI. He remarked that such cheap tactics could not deter the party’s government from taking action against the corrupt, adding, PTI was the only party that could recover the looted national wealth. “Yes, we have also seen the video circulating on social media for the last several days,” said Raees Khan. However, he could not figure out why and where the mock funeral was offered.

He said the price-hike, unemployment, poverty, and confusing policies of the government have disappointed the nation, including his allies and they are withdrawing support from the government one by one. Still, he added that the party alone cannot be held responsible for the prevailing mess. He said he was working with NGOs without getting any salary but quit the job because he had not received a salary for the last several months. The video generated a debate about social media, where the users could make whatever comment they liked. Many said the government should frame rules to regulate social media. Appreciating the mainstream media, some pointed out that the newspapers and TV channels verified the facts before publishing and telecasting any news, but this isn’t done on social media, where anonymous persons can say anything and get away with it.