Pakistan tightened security on Thursday after 11 people were killed in stampedes at free wheat distribution centers for the poor since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan last week, officials said.
Cash-strapped Pakistan last week launched an initiative to distribute free flour to low-income families to ease the impact of record-breaking inflation and rising poverty during the holy month.
But as crowds swelled at distribution centers across the country, many panicked for fear of being able to get the flour, sparking the deadly stampedes. Eight deaths were reported in northwestern Pakistan and three in eastern Punjab province.
Devout Muslims abstain from food and water from morning to night during Ramadan and then break their day’s fast with Iftar, the evening meal, when the sun goes down.
The flour distribution initiative was launched by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif as his government faces the worst of the economic crisis, with receipt of a key $1.1 billion tranche of a $6 billion bailout delayed , originally signed with the International Monetary Fund in 2019.
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“So far, the Punjab government has distributed 20 million sacks of flour,” said Mohsin Naqvi, the head of Punjab’s interim government.
In addition to Punjab, additional police were also deployed in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. Haroon Shah, a government adviser in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told The Associated Press that the stampede happened because desperate “people were impatient” and not sure if they would get the flour.
Women leave while others wait their turn at a distribution point in Lahore, Pakistan March 30, 2023 to get a free sack of wheat flour. Due to high inflation in the country, the country’s government supplies flour to poor families during Ramadan. (AP Photo/KM Chaudary)
“We have enough flour in our stores,” he said.
On Thursday, housewife Zubaida Bibi smiled when, after waiting for hours, she came out of a distribution center in Islamabad with three sacks of flour.
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The South Asian nation is going through one of its worst economic crises amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising cost of living. Weekly inflation is 45%, not seen since the country gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Soaring food costs and rising fuel bills have fueled fears of public unrest. Economists say Pakistan is currently facing an insolvency-like situation, largely due to a delay in the IMF releasing the loan. They say energy costs and the prices of dairy, corn, fruits, vegetables and grains have doubled in the past year and farmers are struggling to get fertilizer at higher prices for crops.
“This government of Shahbaz Sharif is worse than his predecessor Imran Khan,” said Mohammad Afzal, a villager living near Islamabad.
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Khan, a former cricket star-turned-Islamist politician, was prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before being ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament last April. Since then he has been fighting as opposition leader against Sharif’s government. Sharif claims the economic problems are due to Khan’s poor governance.
Sharif visited a flour distribution center in Islamabad earlier this week. No violence was reported during his visit. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Sharif is on site and wants to ensure “uninterrupted” distribution of the flour to the people. She said 4.2 million people have already received free flour.
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