On the call of the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee, farmers staged protest demonstrations in 30 districts across the country, demanding the government start purchasing wheat from growers and arrest those involved in the wheat scandal.
In Punjab, protests occurred in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, Jhang, Pakpattan, Chiniot, Kasur, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Burewala, Chishtian, and Jampur.
In Sindh, farmers took to the streets in Karachi, Shikarpur, Nawabshah, Qamber Shahdadkot, Nowshehru Feroze, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Sanghar, and Shahpur Chakar. Protests were also held in Quetta and Jhal Magsi in Balochistan, as well as in Peshawar and Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In Lahore, hundreds of farmers, including men, women, and youth, gathered at Charing Cross on The Mall, demanding the Punjab government immediately start buying wheat from growers.
PKRC General Secretary Farooq Tariq addressed the demonstrators, presenting a charter of demands. These included the immediate purchase of grain from farmers, arresting those involved in wheat import before the harvest season, market regulation for fair produce prices, withdrawal of the private sector grain import policy, minimum support prices for all crops, rejection of the IMF’s ‘neoliberal’ and ‘anti-farmer’ policies, compensation for farmers affected by the wheat scandal, and strict action against moneylenders charging interest to small farmers.
Mehr Mohammad Buta, a smallholder from Sheikhupura, stated that the government’s failure to purchase wheat caused the grain market to crash, leaving growers unable to plant the next crops.
Other speakers at the Lahore demonstration included Saima Zaa, Rifat Maqsood, Qamar Abbas, Zaigham Abbas, Hasnain Jameel, and Ali Abdullah. A heavy police presence was noted at the event.
