Naan makers go on strike
The locals of Rawalpindi encountered difficulties on Monday as bread ovens (tandoors) across the city remained shut with naanbais on strike over rising prices of flour.
Naanbai Association, a representative body of bread ovens owners is demanding an increase in price of naan from Rs15 to Rs18 and paratha from Rs25 to Rs30.
People dependent on naanbais for the staple naan and chapatti were seen scouring the markets from morning.
Bachelors and labourers living away from homes had to buy bread from bakeries or dine at restaurants due to closure of tandoors across the city.
The protest staged by the flatbread or naan makers on Murree Road was led by the Naanbai Association Secretary-General Khursheed Qureshi and Vice President Aurangzaib led the rally.
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The protesters, holding placards and banners, demanded the government to restore the old prices of flour or increase official rates of naan and chapattis.
Shafiq Qureshi, central president of the association, said that flour was being sold at Rs5,300 per 85kg sack and fine flour for Rs6,000 for 85kg sack when the rates of wholegrain or pateri roti was set at Rs8 per piece and naan was fixed at Rs10 per piece. Now, fine flour has shot past Rs1,100 per 80kg bag making it imperative to increase the roti rates, he said pointing out that the millers besides increasing the price of the staple have reduced the weight of the sack too.
He said the price of wholegrain bread should be increased from Rs10 to Rs12, fine flour white naan from Rs15 to Rs18 and roghni naan and paratha rates should be increased from Rs25 to Rs30.
Taking a jibe at the PTI government, Naanbai Association Secretary-General Khursheed Qureshi said that increase in the prices of flour after every 10 days had become a norm for the past couple of years. They added that the 20kg flour bag was not available at official rate of Rs850 anywhere and it was selling for around Rs1,100 in the market.
Vice President Aurangzaib stated that the price of powdered milk and sesame have also hiked to double and that of electricity and gas by 500 per cent.
“The rents of shops have increased by 50% and the wage of the labourer has gone by almost 25%,” he said.
They asked the government to either restore old prices of the commodity or increase the price of different varieties of flatbread by at least Rs5.
The officials also warned the government that they would increase the prices on their own if the government didn’t fulfill their demands in two days.
Dharna at D-Chowk
The naanbais also staged a sit-in at D-Chowk in Islamabad. The Islamabad administration had installed barbed wires on the route from D-Chowk to the Parliament House.
A representative of traders, Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran President Kashif Chaudhry, backed the demands of the bread oven owners. He commented that the government has been hijacked by the flour mafia.
Chaudhry said that the naanbais could not sell flatbread at cheaper rates when they were buying the raw material at higher prices.
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“Arresting the protesters proves that the government is baffled, with no solution to the problem of inflation,” Chaudhry said. The protesters asserted that they would continue the sit-in until their demands were not approved.
Subsequently, the Rawalpindi District Commissioner (DC) has warned to seal off the tandoors found selling rotis in rates higher than the official rates. The administration has also threatened to jail the naanbais if they did not implement its orders. DC expressed that they will not be blackmailed by the naanbais.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2020.