It’s night time and snowfall is at its peak. People are moving with urgent haste towards hotels to hide their heads. Most of the vehicles are running short of fuel. The area is hilly, Scary, and lonely. Meanwhile, roads get blocked by the colossal snowfall. Some people get hotels while others don’t because the prices of hotels, meals, and even the fee of chains are skyrocketing. The area is Murre and it’s midnight on 7 January 2022.
During this time numerous people contacted the administration for help, but all in vain. However, many are accusing the military of being nearby and didn’t help the tourists. According to a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Muhsin Dawar, Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is responsible for the incident.
Islamabad High Court termed NDMA responsible for the Murre incident. Chief Justice IHC Athar ordered Prime Minister Imran Khan to investigate the matter. The honorable court questioned the performance of NDMA.
Everyone washed their hands in flowing water. From hotel owners to chain owners, everyone tried to exploit the tourists in any possible way. As a result, at least 22 died as heavy snow traps vehicles. (The Guardian) This was very shocking news for all countrymen. Amid the discourse generated after the incident, Boycott Murre was a notable topic discussed by almost everyone.
It’s not just Murre, we saw the 2005 earthquake. After the earthquake people sold out aid in the market. Express Tribune on 8th October 2011 published a story, Express Tribune took the stand that the Earthquake and Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) is accused of corruption and misuse of funds. That’s not all, According to Consumer Watchdog, Amazon and other companies sold items with 1000 percent profit. According to Reuters, Reliance and other companies’ profits surged during pandemics. During the Pandemic there was a lockdown, income of the middle class came to nearly zero while the multi-national and national companies were busy gouging.
Such trends, “Boycott Murre” is actually a tactic used to sweep the actual issue under the carpet. From Social Media to mainstream media, everyone was demanding a boycott of Murre but no one is pointing out the flaws and loopholes of the system.
Simply, This Capitalist and exploitative system stand on the basic principle of “profit in any case”. This system does not value life, profit is above life. The profit is sacred to the system. Hence, the mindset of the public is formed with the help of capitalist media. One of the big curses of this system is individualism. Every person in society is trapped in a comfort zone cycle. They have no time to think out of the box. Now it’s time to understand this exploitative system.
