Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh infuriated social media users when he misquoted the tomato price as Rs17/kilo, which reflects his unfamiliarity from the ongoing price hike on tomatoes and other vegetables in the market.
مشیر خزانہ ڈاکٹر حفیظ شیخ کے مطابق ٹما ٹر 17 روپے کلو بک رھے ھیں۔ یہ سب کو نسی دوائ پی رھے ھیں؟ pic.twitter.com/7vRUrFP8zg
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) November 11, 2019
مرغیوں اور انڈوں کے بعد اب پیش ہیں ٹماٹر ! pic.twitter.com/FY97Io5CEx
— Mansoor Ali Khan (@_Mansoor_Ali) November 11, 2019
In a video making rounds on social media, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was attacked by reporters on current price hike on eatables particularly tomatoes. They protested before Sheikh over the government’s ineptness to control price hike. But a highly ignorant statement from a focal man running the economy, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh agitated the reporters and social media users alike.
@ImranKhanPTI
Tomatoes Rs.200/kg (I don't know where does Abdul Hafeez Sheikh buy them from at Rs.17/kg)
Onions Rs.100/kg,
Ginger Rs.400/kg,
Chilghoza @ Rs.9,600/kg
Except bananas NO fruit is less tha Rs.100/kg NO vegetables is less tha Rs.100/kg. کیسی تبدیلی، کونسا نیا پاکستان— mlle femme (@najbaj) November 12, 2019
Abdul Hafeez Sheikh sahib kehtay hain kay Karachi mein tamatar sastay daamon mil rahay hain – kaun si dukan mein – humain bhi tau bataein Sheikh sahib
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) November 11, 2019
Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to awam pic.twitter.com/uXPsJKDf9u
— Hamza Naeem (@hamxanaeem) November 11, 2019
Abdul Hafeez Sheikh rebuffed the claims of journalists who complain that tomatoes are being sold at the price of Rs240-300/Kgs countrywide. With an expression of cluelessness on his face, Sheikh responded that all such claims of tomatoes being sold at a higher price are false and that tomatoes can be bought for Rs.17/Kg from Karachi’s vegetable wholesale market (sabzi mandi).
His statement annoyed the reporters who complained that they don’t know where in Pakistan tomatoes are getting sold at incredibly cheap price. One reporter retorted that he bought tomatoes for Rs.300/kgs recently as per the latest day’s rate.
Read more: Hoarding leads to price hike in Ramzan: 9,000kg lemons seized
The Twitter users went haywire as soon as the video spread on social media. A score of people questioned the credibility of the men at the helm of running the country when they are highly ignorant of the plight people are facing. A large number of Twitter users claimed they bought tomatoes at a price in between Rs.240-300Kg and that they can’t recall an instance when tomatoes were being sold at such a lower price in the recent past. Another user pointed out that he must be referring to the 1970s when inflation was low and food items were cheap.
Even a slight rise in the price of tomato or other basic edible items can upset the budget of the families with limited incomes. The disgruntled Twitter users argued that the elites must come out from their drawing rooms for a reality check to see how inflation is worsening the survival of people with meager incomes.