The protesting crowds taking to the street all over the country on Monday, have been pushed to the limit with their very livelihood at risk due to the gas crisis. The chambers of commerce and industry across the Punjab province, at a meeting held in Lahore, threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement unless the supply of gas was restored and its price hike rescinded. A deep sense of hurt was visible among the chambers’ representatives on account of the discriminatory treatment, they believed, Punjab was being meted out. They planned to hold a sit-in in front of the Prime Minister’s Lahore residence on January 7, as well as a protest demonstration before the Governor House. It is a great pity that in the face of the country running out of the so-far discovered energy resources, no new gas well has been tapped since 1985 and the concerned agency does not even have a rig to do the job.
The protesters, at places, clashed with the baton-charging police who used teargas shells to disperse them. The demonstrators represented the entire spectrum of society since gas has, over the years, come to be used as fuel not only to run vehicles, industrial units and sundry businesses, but also to cook meals and warm houses. It is obvious that stoppage in its supply will cause tremendous discontentment among not just industry owners, but also in the layman. Rickshaw drivers, CNG station labour, industrial workers, businessmen and general public, including housewives, were seen shouting anti-government slogans, demanding the restoration of gas supply and calling off the rise in prices. The worked up crowd set tyres on fire, pelted the police with stones and damaged property. The CNG outlet owners sensing their huge investments going down the drain went on strike, with plenty of legitimate grievances. Their closure signalled life paralysed, as the country witnessed, prompting the Prime Minister to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the energy issue. The gravity of the situation also brought together the Petroleum Secretary and the CNG Association Chairman. The Secretary discounted the impression created by his Minister that the CNG sector was being closed for an indefinite period. He also gave the assurance that the ban on filling public transport vehicles running on CNG would remain suspended for the next 15 days.
These measures, temporary in nature and taken to assuage the frayed tempers of the masses, have not calmed the widespread concern. The public mood remains ominous and could serve as a tinder box ready to ignite something far more dangerous than the violent scenes witnessed on Monday. There exists an accumulated sense of betrayal of the mandate by the ruling setup, but if endemic corruption and rude defiance of judicial verdicts have not roused the common man enough to create turmoil, the denial of the means of cooking meals and of transportation might provide the necessary spark.