Nationalist parties protest against price hike, deal with IMF.

HYDERABAD -- Activists of nationalist and leftist parties took out a rally under the aegis of Sindh Progressive Committee (SPC) in protest against massive price hike and ill-advised agreement between International Monetary Fund and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.

The rally which was attended by workers of Awami Jamhoori Party, Awami Workers Party, Communist Party of Pakistan and Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Junejo started its march from Giddu Chowk and culminated at the press club.

Comrade Vishno Mal, SPC convener Hashim Khoso, Abdul Khaliq Junejo and others, who led the rally, said that the government had imposed unnecessary taxes on people and ratcheted up rate of dollar against rupee which had broken the back of working class and labourers. Due to hike in dollar's rate, prices of petrol, gas and electricity had gone beyond the reach of common man, they said.

They said that successive governments had taken loans from international financial institutions over the past 71 years but major chunk of the loans had been siphoned off in the shape of corruption with which corrupt rulers erected their business empires abroad while it were people who were paying back interest on the huge debt.

Due to ill-advised policies of present government, the poor were becoming poorer but...