‘Petrol bomb’ and other unfair labels

The heading is irresistible: “Government drops another petrol bomb”, equating it with the terrorists who kill the common man in Pakistan; or “New Year gift of the government to the people”, etc. This would happen anywhere in the world because governments have to bear the consequences of an economy that is not doing well and is highly dependent on imported oil for its industrial and commercial needs. US President Barack Obama is unpopular today and might lose his second term because of the economy left behind by an earlier president and the banking collapse caused by one of capitalism’s cyclical crises. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) — whose name is frightening in itself — announced that it was raising the prices of petroleum products up by nearly Rs8 per litre (in the case of petrol used by cars). A spokesman for Ogra explained that the government was simply passing on the new price of crude oil in the Arab Gulf market which had surged by nearly 12 per cent. The ‘New Year gift’ should have been........

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