What is the State of Indian occupied Punjab State?
Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 29, 1998 - The recent onion shortage in India is not the only shortage that the Indian consumers in general, and the Punjabi consumers in particular, have been burdened with, as a result of the mismanagement and corruption of the BJP Akali combine which rules the roost in the Sikh homeland.Yesterday's Tribune (Tuesday, October; 27, 1998), a Chandigarh pro BJP anti Sikh English newspaper; has carried a revealing, and thought provoking, article; "Government sleeps as consumers weep" on the current onion shortage that has hit India. The Newspaper article introduced the subject as follows:- "With onions becoming elusive, prices of essential commodities, fruits, vegetables, edible oils, cereals and pulses have not lagged behind as an average household budget has crumbled by an unprecedented hike in prices since the beginning of the year."
The newspaper survey reveals that; "Onions which had no takers at Rs. six a kilogram at the beginning of the year; witnessed a phenomenal 1200 percent increase in its price as it crossed the Rs. seventy a kilogram mark in recent weeks. Similarly, prices of edible oils, too, have shot up from Rs. 33 a kg to Rs. 60 a kg with the price of mustard oil touching Rs. 80 a kg. It is not only onions and edible oils, but the prices of other daily use items, like coriander, touching a record price of Rs 160 a kg. Tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, brinjals, green chillies, lemons - name any vegetable, its market price will shock you. Vegetables and fruits have never been so costly as they are this year."
The Tribune newspaper goes on to report that; "Consumers are baffled. They are surprised at the total indifference of the government in controlling the price line". The newspaper quotes a senior bureaucrat of the Punjab government has having said that; "What else could one expect from a government of traders. Those very traders first export onions at Rs. 9 a kg and then reimport the commodity at Rs. 12 a kg. Not a single raid has been conducted to unearth hoarding. No hue and cry has been made to check the spiraling prices of edible oils, pulses, cereals and even rice and flour (atta). In Jalandhar, the newspaper reports, onions were quoted at Rs. 60 per kg. and a poor man's vegetables, brinjal, at Rs. 25 per kg. Sarson-ka-Saag has touched a high of Rs. 25 a kg while tomatoes are selling at Rs. 30 per kg. In Patiala garlic was selling at Rs. 40 per kg". The holy city of Amritsar too, according to the Tribune, is reeling under this price hike and that; "the prices of vegetables and fruits appear to be in the same line as the rest of the state where the people had earlier absorbed a shocking 40 percent increase in bus fares."
The Tribune also reported that being alarmed at the Badal governments’ apathy about the continuous price rise, members of the Joint Action Committee of the Punjab and UT(Union Territory- Chandigarh) Employees now plan to gherao the office of the Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner next week to fight the price war engineered by "vested interests". "We cannot be silent spectators to this problem any more" the office - bearers of the Committee were quoted by the newspaper.
In another story, also in the Tribune of October 27, 1998, the newspaper had flayed the; "BJP - led government for its failure to contain spiraling prices during the past three months", which it reports were due to the hoarding of essential commodities; "by big traders who have full political patronage". Who these big traders are is know to every Sikh! These leeches, as our readers are well aware , of the same fat cats-banias- who finance Mr. Badal’s bosom pals and political allies, the fascist BJP, the coalition partner of the Akali Dal government in Occupied Punjab. The newspaper conveyed the feelings of the consumer by stating that; "An average consumer feels that if the government is serious in bailing out the poor customer, it can do so by launching a crackdown on the unscrupulous stockiest, hoaders and middlemen, who are thriving by looting both the producer and the consumer."
How about it Mr. Badal? How about deflating the bloated bellies of these greedy hoaders, stockiest and middlemen (99% of whom belong to the Punjab BJP cadre) who are sucking the blood of not only the Sikh farmer/producer but are also leeched on to the Sikh consumer who can’t even afford onions now? How about a crackdown or are you only interested in getting a promotion to a full cabinet position for your son Badal Jr. and therefore, are chary of offending the BJP Brahmins in Delhi?