Kissan Ittehad announces protest movement from August 11

KARACHI: The Kissan Ittehad and Sindh Abadgar Ittehad have announced plans to launch a protest movement over the government’s failure to fix the official price of wheat.

The protests will begin in Punjab on August 11 and in Sindh on August 20.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club alongside Sindh Abadgar Ittehad President Nawab Zubair Talpur, Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Hussain Bath said that a symbolic funeral would be held outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Kasur on August 11, followed by a protest in front of the Hyderabad Press Club on August 20.

He said that after staging protests in all provinces, the movement would head towards Islamabad.

“This time, we will protest before sowing the wheat crop, and our movement has no political backing,” he clarified.

Bath said the cost of wheat cultivation has remained Rs4,000 per 40kg over the past two years, yet wheat has been purchased from farmers at just Rs2,200 per 40kg. “We are ready for a forensic audit,” he said.

Read more: Rising wheat prices push flour prices up in Lahore, Rawalpindi

He said that the government demands taxes as high as 45 per cent. “When we’re not making any profit, how can we pay taxes? If the government does not fix the wheat price before sowing, we will talk to the prime minister and chief ministers. If no rate is fixed even then, protests will erupt across Punjab on August 11 and across Sindh on August 20.”

He criticised the government for failing to fix a wheat support price for two consecutive years, warning that the country may need to import 1.5 to 2 million metric tons of wheat this year.

He also said that climate change continues to destroy crops annually.

Bath urged the government to consult farmers’ bodies across all provinces on dam construction, saying any dams or canals should not be built without provincial consensus.

He also raised the issue of high electricity costs, saying farmers are being charged Rs50 to 60 per unit, which is unbearable.

He criticised government policies for making it difficult for farmers to access basic necessities.

Highlighting ongoing grievances, he said farmers are forced to protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk nearly every year, and many no longer have the means to repay loans.

“In cases of default, the government auctions off our land,” he added, recalling that the Lahore High Court has ruled that farmers must be given a fair wheat price.

‘File contempt case against Sindh govt’

Nawab Zubair Talpur said that sugar mill owners are withholding Rs40 billion from farmers under the pretext of “premium quality” payments, which were last issued in 1998.

He said that the Supreme Court, in a 2018 ruling, declared quality premium a farmer’s rightful due. “We will file a contempt of court case against the Sindh government,” he said.

Sindh Abadgar Ittehad’s General Secretary Muhammad Anwar alleged that 42 families in the country have monopolised the sugar industry, saying they looted Rs300 billion from the public by artificially inflating sugar prices.