LAHORE - Hundreds of farmers yesterday held protest demonstration outside the Punjab Assembly against illegal detention of their fellows and ‘economic murder’ of small growers in the country.
Their protest was attended by PPP workers led by opposition leader in National Assembly Khurshid Shah, a PTI delegation led by Ch Sarwar, and members of Pakistan Awami Tehreek.
Led by Khalid Khokhar faction of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, the protest was scheduled to be held on Wednesday but it started a day earlier when police arrested hundreds of farmers on their way to Lahore.
PKI general secretary Umair Masood told The Nation that police detained some 800 farmers ahead of the agitation. He said the farmers’ body would not hold negotiations with the government until the release of detained farmers.
“The government has approached us for talks but we refused. How the talks are possible when our workers are still under arrest,” he said.
“The cotton prices are low as compared to our input on it. We pay high on pesticides and fertilizers as compared to the prices in whole region. The government announced billions of rupees subsidies for farmers but all slogans exist in papers and money is not reaching to the poor farmers.
“The government is doing economic murder of small farmers by sending them heavy electricity bills every month,” Masood added.
The farmers holding clubs continued their sit-in at The Mall whole day. They kept the main artery blocked for traffic and chanted slogans against central and provincial government. They also demanded GST-free agriculture products and a ban on trade with India.
They have warned of taking the protest to Islamabad on Thursday (today) if Punjab government denied them their rightful package.
PPP leader Khurished Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira and PTI leader Ch Sarwar addressed them and extended full support to the their demands.
“Bilawal Bhutto (PPP chairman) would lead the farmers’ rally if their demands were not addressed by the government,” warned Shah while addressing the protestors. He said PPP was the true representative of farmers.
“The government doesn’t care about the rights of farmers despite the fact they fulfil dietary requirements of the nation.”
Kaira said farmers were being hoodwinked by the current government and their exploitation was carried out through lowering down prices of agriculture outputs.
He further criticised the PML-N government saying it was well aware of all the methods of corruption, but it could not understand what the country’s poor farmer wanted.
Inviting the farmers to join his Raiwind rally, Sarwar demanded of the government to immediately address all their demands.
“On behalf of Imran Khan, I invite you to join PTI struggle against this corrupt government on September 30 in Raiwind,” he added. “If the Kissan Package, announced by the government, was for the farmers of the country then why the agriculturalists of Punjab are protesting today,” Sarwar maintained.
Leaders of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (Kissan Wing) also attended the protest and condemned the anti-farmers polices of CM Shehbaz. PAT chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri, in a statement, held any person who opposes the policies of the Punjab rulers is being sent behind bars under one pretext or the other. Some farmers, talking to The Nation, described denial of the package promised to them under agriculture policy as the main reason behind the protest.
“The power distribution companies in Multan, Lahore and Faisalabad division send us huge electricity bills every month and this could not be stopped despite the government promises to address the issue. While the Cotton price is very low as compared to input cost,” said Muhammad Sadiq, a farmer from Khanewal.
Due to the protest on The Mall, several adjoining arteries remained blocked for hours as traffic police directed commuters away from the protest venue. Skirmishes between the farmers and motorists also occurred over the long blockade of roads.
PKI, earlier, had staged the protest outside the Punjab Assembly on August 20 in which the farmers’ body demanded boycott agricultural trade with India and immunity on GST. But, they said, the government did not address their demands despite repeated assurances.