PESHAWAR, Feb 8: Representatives of various organisations of traders, transporters and lawyers on Wednesday launched a mobile protest campaign to mobilise masses for raising their voice against the increasing prices of petroleum products and daily-use commodities besides what they called bad governance and corruption by the rulers.

They demanded of the government to bring tariff of the petroleum products and gas to the level of 2007 and decrease the prices of essential commodities.

Among others, traders’ leader Khalid Ayub, All Pakistan Goods Transport senior vice-president Ashraf Khalil, Pakhtu Almi Congress leader Shahab Khattak and Pakhtunkhwa Awareness Movement’s Shakeel Waheedullah were leading the protest campaign dubbed as Caravan-i-Inqilab.

They passed through various bazaars and busy markets in the city and made speeches, saying that the government was least bothered to solve the genuine problems of the people while constantly engaging in issues for prolonging their rule.

They announced that the protest campaign would be extended to other parts of the country within days and soon thousands of protesters would besiege the Parliament House to force the government to withdraw the increase in prices of petroleum products, CNG, LPG etc, and take steps for ending corruption.

Mr Khattak said that their campaign would also raise the voice for early recovery of missing persons. He said that lawlessness and injustice had become common in the society while the rulers were trying to protect their government.

The campaign leaders said that they visited parts of Peshawar to motivate traders and other people for extending support to the movement against price hike, corruption and lawlessness.

They said that they would visit different districts of the province to take the leaders of traders, transporters and lawyers into confidence so that rallies could be held for solution of the people’s problems.