LAHORE: Farmers staged protests in 30 different districts of the nation in response to the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee’s appeal, demanding the start of the purchase of wheat from producers and the arrest of those responsible for the wheat scam.
Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, Jhang, Pakpattan, Chiniot, Kasur, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Burewala, Chishtian, and Jampur were among the Punjabi cities where protests were conducted.
Farmers in Sindh, including those in Dadu, Sanghar, Karachi, Shikarpur, Nawabshah, Qamber Shahdadkot, Nowshehru Feroze, and Shahpur Chakar, took to the streets. Along with Quetta and Jhal Magsi in Balochistan, there were protests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Peshawar and Mardan.
Hundreds of farmers, young and old, gathered at Charing Cross on The Mall in Lahore. They insisted that the government of Punjab start purchasing wheat from the farmers right away.
Farooq Tariq, the general secretary of the PKRC, addressed the protesters and gave them the farmers’ charter of demands. It called for the immediate purchase of grain from farmers, the arrest of those involved in the import of wheat before harvest, market regulation to guarantee a fair price for each produce, the removal of the private sector’s policy of importing grain, a minimum support price for all crops, a rejection of the International Monetary Fund’s “neoliberal” and “anti-farmer” policies, compensation for farmers impacted by the wheat scandal, and strict action against those who lent money to small farmers with interest.
Smallholder Mehr Mohammad Buta from Sheikhupura claimed that the grain market crashed because the government refused to purchase their wheat, leaving the growers high and dry and unable to sow new harvests.
Saima Zaa, Rifat Maqsood, Qamar Abbas, Zaigham Abbas, Hasnain Jameel, Ali Abdullah, and others were among those who spoke during the protest in Lahore. There was a substantial police presence at the event.
