Protesters torch thousands of power bills in Rawalakot, PoK

Rawalakot [PoK], August 23 : Several people gathered at the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Rawalakot and torched thousands of electricity bills, Dawn reported. 
The demonstration brushed aside a notification issued by the PoK government on Monday in its desperate attempt to defuse the situation.
The protest started over 150 days ago in the town to record protest against the “cruel electricity taxes, unavailability and increase in the prices of wheat flour and some other issues of public concern”.
On Monday, the government “suspended” the implementation of the increase in power tariff until the “next orders” directing the electricity department to correct non-submitted bills in accordance with the pre-increase tariff and adjust the already submitted amount by users in the next month's bills, as per Dawn.
A seven-member committee, comprising four cabinet members and three civil servants, was also formed by the government to look into the issue and give recommendations for its ultimate solution.
However, angry protesters in Rawalakot and elsewhere rejected what they called the “lollipop” by the government and made it clear that their agitation would continue as per their calendar until all unnecessary and cruel taxes were withdrawn and the tariff was brought on par with Gilgit-Baltistan.
Participants of the rally in Rawalakot, some of whom were also carrying placards, chanted slogans and torched around 7,000 electricity bills at Kutchery Chowk, reported Dawn.
Meanwhile, residents of PoK have launched a civil disobedience movement in Kotli amid soaring inflation, ARY News reported.
The protests started in PoK over the rising inflation and heavy electricity taxes.
According to reports, protestors burned their electricity bills publicly at Abshaar Chowk. They said that people are forced to come on the roads.
The short-term inflation continues to rise with a year-on-year increase of 27.57 per cent for the week ending on Aug 17, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) official data showed on Friday.
On a week-on-week basis, the short-term inflation rose 0.78 per cent and has shown no signs of slowing down, causing concern for economists and consumers alike.
According to official data, the Combined Index was at 275.57 compared to 273.43 on August 10, 2023, while the index was recorded at 216.02 a year ago, on August 18, 2022, reported ARY News.
Out of 51 items, the average price of 32 items increased, 7 items decreased, and 12 items remained stable.
During the week under review, the items whose prices increased the most over the same week a year ago were: Chillies Powder (7.58 per cent), Rice Irri-6/9 (7.48 per cent), Garlic (5.06 per cent), Sugar (4.02 per cent), Gur (3.23 per cent), Rice Basmati Broken (3.06 per cent), Chicken (2.83 per cent) and Bananas (2.72 per cent), non-food items, Diesel (7.29 per cent) and Petrol (6.40 per cent).
On the other hand, a decrease was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (13.60 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (1.65 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 2.5 kg (0.85 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 kg (0.43 per cent), Firewood (0.42 per cent), Mustard Oil (0.23 per cent) and Wheat Flour (0.19 per cent), as per ARY News.