The people of low-grade salaried class say they are financially crippled in the wake of unbridled per kilo prices of kitchen items, for instance ‘atta’ Rs30, sugar Rs42/50 (in violation of the Supreme Court order), cooking oil Rs140, rice Rs40/45 (broken) and Rs70/90 (whole), potato Rs35/40, tomato Rs48, lady-finger Rs60, green coriander Rs5 (previously Re.1) and so on. An ordinary ‘tandoor roti’ (oven-baked bread), priced Rs2 in Rawalpindi, costs the common man Rs5/6 in Islamabad. What annoys the people of the federal capital territory is the lethargy of the CDA municipal administration directorate who has closed its eyes and ears to their problems pertaining to cleanliness and protection of health. There are only two sweepers for Rawal Town while Margalla Town has 16 sweepers and Chak Shahzad 12. Absence of streetlights, broken service roads with stagnant rainwater and poor sanitation add to the anger of the gentle residents of Rawal Town who, like other citizens, complain of tension caused by delivery of inflated utility bills in the last week of the month. The people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, who travel by wagon between the two cities to earn their livelihood, face another problem, particularly those who, on return from the Pak Secretariat, or Super Market, or Aabpara, want to get down from the vehicle at the Zero Point. The wagon driver behaves like an undemocratic ruler and drops the commuter(s) at Shakarparian. He won’t oblige even the old men and women. One hasn’t seen any traffic policeman there to come to the help of the passenger(s) and bridle the haughty drivers plying wagons like RLD 9324 and RLO 1070. Most of such commuters put to trouble blame the CDA for placing blocks on roads almost at every U-turn and sidelining the promise to facilitate the city commuters at some points of the capital. Such an arrangement was urgently needed. In fact, the citizens also needed to be awakened to, and apprised of, the situation created by the extremists and terrorists out with suicide jackets on their bodies with heinous design to disturb the peaceful social and economic life in the twin cities and rest of the country. The print and electronic media persons, including young photographers and cameramen, seem dedicated to serving the cause of the masses in the same spirit as demonstrated by the army ‘jawans’ and officers at Swat and Malakand and South Waziristan Agency. What must hearten and further embolden the soldiers devoted to the defence of Pakistan is the revelation from an in-depth survey that the great majority of the citizens of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, eventually impressed by the sacrifices of hundreds of military men in the fight against the satanically aggressive extremists and militants, seem in mood to practically join hands with their brethren in the army and allied institutions. They, in other words, wish to set an example of actually workable national civil-military unity to tell the forces hostile to Pakistan that all the Pakistanis are united. Most citizens, unhappy over all-time difference of opinion of the politicians and their selfish attitude towards the problems of the masses, now say “these political leaders lack statesmanship, and there’s no really true ‘qiadat’ (leadership) in the country...we need an honest Quaid (leader) with a ‘danda’ (heavy stick) in his hand to set all looters right.” Many have been heard stressing the need for a patriot like Khomenei who, with the support of the masses, may be able to save and protect the country from the present foreign-sponsored attacks on civil and military institutions, police training centres, colleges and universities in the twin cities—-or elsewhere in the country. The citizens seem to be setting their mind to meet the challenges, internal and external, and fight the enemy, whoever it may be, along with the armed forces—-”as we did in September 1965 war”. By the way, the citizens remember with appreciation the common man-friendly government of Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and governorships of General Azam Khan (East Pakistan) and Amir Mohammad Khan (West Pakistan) who kept a close watch on food prices, directing the deputy commissioners to catch the hoarders and black-marketers of ‘atta’ (wheat flour) and sugar by neck, fine them and send them behind the bars.
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