Price hike in Ramazan compel Pakistanis for 3-day boycott of fruits
In an effort to protest against soaring prices in Ramazan, an online campaign has been launched asking citizens all across the country to boycott fruit vendors from June 2 to June 4.
Pakistani social media activists are running an awareness campaign calling for a three-day country-wide boycott of buying fruit to protest against soaring prices in Ramadan.
The campaign that initially emerged from Whatsapp by a group of citizens in Karachi, gained momentum after a large number of people has started sharing the posts related to the boycott of costly fruits on Facebook and Twitter.
The social media campaign calling for a three-day boycott of buying fruit has gathered a massive response from frustrated consumers across Pakistan. Sindh government and Karachi commissioner have also expressed their support for the boycott.
According to the message, circulating over social media asked people to boycott the purchase of fruits from June 2 to June 4 in order to bring their prices down to a normal level.
Social media activists said, “If you are the head of a family, never buy fruit during Friday, Saturday and Sunday. During these three days, there is a tendency among the faithful to purchase fruit for Iftar as much as possible. However, when we boycott fruit on these three days, the traders will realize they were going to face huge loss and thus they will be forced to lower the prices of the fruit and vegetables items to a sensible level.”
“This cruelty will continue in every Ramzan to come, if we, the people, don’t stand united and take part in this Jihad,” read a post on Twitter.
Speaking over the matter, Sindh Transport Minister Nasir Shah remarked that Pakistan People’s Party is with people in the fruit boycott. The boycott is the start of crackdown against profiteers, he added.
Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui has also announced to support the boycott.
In a surprise move Shahjehan Shaikh, President wholesale fruit and vegetable market Karachi also supports the boycott move saying it is consumers’ right to buy a commodity at actual price.
The Social media campaign asking people to boycott purchasing fruits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to force the vendors to cut the prices that have been unreasonably increased in the holy month of Ramzan.