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A large group of people from the Awami Action Committee in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) held a protest against the hefty electricity bills and high prices of natural gas.
Blaming the government for being negligent and discriminatory, protesters demanded the government provide electricity and natural gas at subsidised rates to the people in the region. Attacking the government, especially those sitting in Islamabad, protesters said that the common people had sent their representatives to the assembly with a lot of hope, but their leaders failed to meet their expectations. A protester said, "Do they not know how they reached the assembly? Did they reach assembly directly from the mother's lap or did we send them to assembly? They don't care about the poor people. They (leaders) are provided pick-and-drop facilities for their school-going children from the tax money. They use government vehicles for personal work." Leaders from the Awami Action Committee even threatened stronger protests in the near future. They even accused the government of theft saying that the administration misused the money which was sent for the development in the region. The protesting leader alleged that the fund was used for the construction of a new house for the Prime Minister and a President's House. A leader of the Awami Action Committee said, "When people had no tents, they (the government) decided to build a new Prime Minister's house. The old building had no issue and it is still in use. The money which had come from Europe for the poor people, the new government used for the new PM House building". For the past several years, the people in PoK and Gilgit Baltistan have been living a miserable life with no avenues for business and employment for youth. The high inflation and corruption in regions under Pakistan's illegal occupation have even made life harder for the locals. There are frequent protests in the region, but no one is listening to their woes. (ANI)
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