PPP criticises govt for asking Tiger Force to control prices

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders and senators Mian Raza Rabbani and Shireen Rehman strongly criticised government on giving task to Tiger Force of Prime Minister Imran Khan to monitor and control the prices of daily commodities.

Former chairman of Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Monday termed the ‘Tiger Force’ of Prime Minister Imran Khan to control the prices of the commodities as a joke with the nation and similar one created by Mussolini, has been asked to control the prices.

“The state apparatus has been put in cold storage and the ‘Tiger Force’, like the one created by Mussolini, has been asked to control the prices. This is a joke,” he said in a statement on Monday while condemning the government failure to control the price of the commodities. Raza Rabbani said, ‘Tiger Force’ has no legal sanction to take any action and or act on behalf of the State. He said the state apparatus has been put in cold storage and the federal government must realise that Pakistan is not a fascist state where party functionaries and volunteers can act for and on behalf of the State.

He said the prices of vegetables and dals have risen to such an extent that the common man cannot afford more than one meal a day. “This is strongly condemned,” he said. Rabbani said the federal government has failed to take any step to control the mafias and cartels as they are linked to their crony capitalists. He said instead of controlling the prices, the government is taking fascists steps like the gagging of the media, building up of narrow nationalism, the declaring of opponents of the government as enemies of the State, the stifling of academic freedom, the crushing of labour movements and the crushing of students movements; are a few amongst many others. Rabbani said Jinnah’s Pakistan was to be a progressive federal welfare state, with democratic polity and parliamentary form of government. “To achieve that Pakistan, the struggle must go on,” he said.

Meanwhile, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop taking notice and start taking action. “In the past two years, the prime minter has taken notice of the increasing inflation eleven times and yet we are still at the same place or is this also the responsibility of previous governments,” she said while condemning the price hike in the country.

Sherry Rehman said, “On one hand the prime minister is saying that the government has decided to use all resources against inflation in the country and on the other, he is using the so-called services of political volunteers of a ‘Tiger Force’ for the identification and management of hoarders,” she said.

The PPP parliamentary leader questioned that are local government administrators not competent enough to handle this. “How are executive functions of the government being passed on to an army of political volunteers, with no training, credentials or legitimacy in the law to police the functions of the market,” she asked. She said asking a politically tagged force to monitor and check the prices of food and other items in the existence of a full government including DCs is a recipe for rampant abuse of casually bestowed powers. Sherry Rehman said instead of doing their jobs, ministers are busy targeting the opposition. She said, “Pakistan is going through the worst inflation, economic and unemployment crisis ever and we are yet to see any action on it.” She said it is shocking that basic everyday necessities are beyond one’s reach now.