LAHORE: Farmers while demonstrating in different cities, on the call of the Kissan Rabita Committee, demanded immediate start of wheat procurement by the provincial government and arrest of the people responsible for the import of wheat scandal.
In Punjab, protests were held in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, Jhang, Pakpattan, Chiniot, Kasur, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Borewala, Chishtian and Jampur.
In Sindh, protests were held in Karachi, Shikarpur, Nawabshah, Qamber Shahdadkot, Nowshehru Feroze, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Sanghar and Shahpur Chakar. Protests in Balochistan were held in Quetta, Jhal Magsi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Peshawar and Mardan.
Among those who led these protests were Malik Zulfiqar Awan, the central president of Pakistan Kisan Ittehad, Sindh Hari Tehreek leader Noor Muhammad Katiyar, Tariq Mehmood, Gulzar Khan, Ali Khoso, Rana Abdul Rehman, Rifat Maqsood and others.
In the provincial metropolis, the demonstration was held at Charing Cross, in which hundreds of farmers, men, women and youth participated.
Addressing the demonstration, General Secretary Pakistan Kisan Coordination Committee Farooq Tariq presented the demands of the farmers, which included immediate procurement of wheat, arrest of those involved in the wheat scandal and withdrawal of the policy of allowing the private sector to import grains.
He said that the minimum support price should be fixed for wheat and all other crops. The government should regulate the market to ensure fair prices for farmers’ produce. The neo-liberal and anti-farmer policies of the IMF should be abolished. Farmers affected by the wheat scandal should be compensated. Strict action should be taken against those charging interests on loans from small farmers.
A farmer from Sheikhupura, Mehar Muhammad Boota said, “Because of the government not buying wheat, we don’t have enough money to plant rice, and that’s the case with 80 percent of the small farmers.”
Those who addressed the demonstration in Lahore included Saima Zaa, Rifat Maqsood, Qamar Abbas, Zaigham Abbas, Hasnain Jameel, Maher Muhammad Boota, Ali Abdullah and others.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024