‘A comedy of infinite stupidity’: Shehbaz demands probe into wheat crisis

PML-N president says nation needs to know who benefitted at the cost of their loss

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif has come down hard on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government over prevailing wheat and flour crisis in the country, demanding an investigation to reveal characters behind the ‘conspiracy’.

The government has been subjected to scathing vitriol by the opposition after “acute flour shortages” ballooned into a crisis, shooting the prices up by as much as Rs6 per kilo and catching it completely off guard.

Experts in the Express News show, The Review, made a shocking disclosure last night that the prices skyrocketed after the government exported 48,000 metric tons of wheat despite a ban on its export.

“On whose orders and at what price wheat was exported? Where have all the wheat stocks disappeared in 16 months? …the nation needs to know who benefitted at the cost of their loss,” Shehbaz, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, wrote in a series of tweets on Sunday.

قوم کی چیخیں نکلوانے کے باوجود اربوں روپے کے مزید ٹیکس کی بازگشت قیامت در قیامت ہے۔
مزید ٹیکس لگانے سے معیشت کی رہی سہی سانس بھی بند ہوجائے گی۔ ملک میں اصلاحات کے نام پر حماقتوں کو بازار گرم ہے اور اس افراتفری میں چند موقع پرستوں کے وارے نیارے ہوگئے ہیں۔ https://t.co/oHTrFsEMx2

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 19, 2020

Firing broadside at the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the former Punjab chief minister said “a comedy of infinite stupidity is at display in guise of reforms, benefitting hugely a few opportunists”.

Shehbaz said there was a dire need to ascertain reasons behind the colossal losses in the past 16 months of this government. “Only a miracle would be able to control the damage if breaks are not applied to the continuous decline in every department in next few months,” he remarked.

“If Imran sahib [PM] is not aware of state of affairs then this is the peak of his incompetence, and if it’s happening under his nose then he is the chief of all corrupt elements,” said the PML-N president.

16 ماہ میں ہر چیز کے تباہ ہونے کی وجوہات کا پتہ لگانا ہوگا۔اگر ہر شعبے کی تنزلی کو بریک نہ لگائی گئی تو چند ماہ بعدحالات ٹھیک کرنے کے لئے کسی معجزہ کی ضرورت ہوگی۔اگر عمران صاحب “لاعلم” ہیں تو یہ نالائقی کی انتہا ہے اور اگر ان کی مرضی سے ہورہا ہے تو پھر وہ کرپٹ عناصر کے سرغنہ ہیں

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 19, 2020

“Despite squeezing the poor masses with inflation, talks of introducing more taxes are nothing less than the end of the world [for them] … new taxes would prove to be the last nail in the coffin of economy, which is already on ventilator.”

Awan terms 'wheat crisis' a negative propaganda

The scathing criticism from the opposition leader comes a day after PM Imran ordered a countrywide “grand operation” against wheat hoarders and profiteers.

Alarmed by the sudden upsurge in prices, Imran Khan directed the four provincial chief secretaries to launch a “grand operation” to net wheat hoarders and seal their granaries, according to his office. The top provincial administrators have been directed to initiate operations at the district level.

This is the second time the flour price has gone up as earlier the rates were jacked up by Rs20 per kilo. Though the earlier price upsurge was not unexpected, the current crisis, the government believes, is artificial, created by hoarders in an attempt to mint money.

Interestingly, the prime minister only on Thursday approved a multibillion-rupee package for providing relief to the poor through the Utility Stores Corporation (USC). The Rs7 billion relief package, according to government officials, was in line with the prime minister’s vision of a welfare state modelled on that of Madina.

Under the package, the government plans to lower the prices of kitchen items – including flour, cooking oil, rice and pulses, etc – for the poor segment of society. The prime minister has said that the national economy is on the mend and that 2020 would the year of stabilisation and prosperity.