Long before Bagh-e-Jinnah filled up with enthusiastic supporters on Sunday, long before Dila Teer Bija resounded at the rally ground, Sughra Bibi sat there, patiently waiting.
Troubled, like many others, by rising inflation in the country, the widow and mother of two was the first to arrive at the ground meant to host the Pakistan Democratic Movement's second rally, claiming a seat there at 11am.
Clutching a letter, she waited for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz vice president Maryam Nawaz, in the hope of meeting her and handing over the handwritten note.
A resident of Akhtar Colony, Sughra Bibi is a domestic worker, spending long hours at different houses in order to feed her children. But with even the bare essentials becoming more and more expensive, she is less and less able to do so.
According to her, the skyrocketing prices have meant that she is forced to feed her children stale bread that is three days old. "I can't buy flour or vegetables, or pay the utility bills or house rent, unlike in [former prime minister] Nawaz Sharif's reign, when we could at least eat sufficiently," she wrote.
"I am distressed by Prime Minister Imran Khan's government. I want purana [old] Pakistan back," she pleaded in the letter.
Talking to The Express Tribune, she lamented how difficult it had become to even buy food for her young children in 'Naya Pakistan.' "What kind of new Pakistan is this where all I can do with my income is to cover the house rent?" she demanded, stating that she was there because she just wanted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf federal government to leave.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2020.
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