Protest held against inflation, poor economic policies.

ISLAMABAD -- Awami Workers Party (AWP) and the Progressive Students Federation (PrSF) held a rally at Aabpara Chowk against the high inflation rate and poor economic policies on Sunday.

The protesters criticised the way mainstream parties were cynically pushing unpopular IMF demands on to one another.

A large number working class people, slum residents, students, trade union activists and progressive political workers took part in the protest against the rising costs of living.

Speaking on the occasion, AWP's Deputy General Secretary Aasim Sajjad Akhtar censured Finance Minister Miftah Ismail for pretending that the recent hikes in the petroleum prices were anything other than anti-poor measures taken by an elite that refuses to reduce its own consumption.

He challenged the government to cut the billions in subsidies that it gives to businesses through amnesty schemes or reduce the ever increasing exemptions and privileges of the military and bureaucracy.

AWP Rawalpindi Islamabad General Secretary Iqbal Jahan said the current skyrocketing prices had forced families to make brutal choices.

He said rising prices had made it incredibly difficult for...