The Punjab chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar Tuesday said the PTI government has fulfilled the long-standing demand of farmers by increasing the support-prices of sugarcane and wheat after many years. "More than 100-percent increase has been made in the budget for the development of agriculture; an amount of Rs40.76 billion has been earmarked for agri sector in the current budget," the CM said in his message on the eve of farmers day.
The CM maintained that farmers' welfare is the top priority of the government because national development is linked with farmers' progress. "The PTI government has taken several steps to protect the rights of the farmers and the farmers are given full price of their agriculture produce during the tenure of the PTI government," he added.
He said that farmers are also allowed to set up stalls in 32 model bazaars for directly selling their produce and Kisan platforms have been established in 31 vegetable markets. Farmers to be provided free space to directly sell their produce in model bazaars and vegetable markets, he added. The usurpation of farmers' rights will not be allowed and every effort will be made to solve their problems, he said.
The CM in a statement said the Indian government has waged war against its own people by approving most notorious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which depicts fanatic designs of the Modi government.
"This black law has, again, disclosed the cruel face of so-called Indian democracy and conscious Indians have also rejected this contentious law in toto," he said, adding: "A vigorous protest is going on in the whole of India against this controversial law; Modi is blowing his own trumpet while Hindus dominated India is burning in flames."
Buzdar asserted that controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is a blatant violation of universally-acknowledged norms of human rights adding that Modi government has played the cruel game of Muslims' genocide in India after doing the same in Occupied Kashmir. The Modi government has gone mad in its hatred towards Muslims, he lamented.
The CM regretted that humanity is crying in Occupied Kashmir for the last 135 days and the oppressed Kashmiris are, even, deprived of their fundamental rights as well as necessities of life for four and a half months due to the cruel Indian tactics. He deplored that the serene Kashmir valley has turned into a living hell as occupied Indian forces have committed worst cruelties there. India has made the lives of innocent Kashmiris hell through state-sponsored-terrorism, he added.
He said that India cannot suppress the indigenous freedom movement by putting Kashmiri leaders behind bars. It is a reality that Indian cruelties have further boosted the freedom struggle. He said that Pakistanis are firmly standing with their Kashmiri brethren.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019