Enraged farmers block major entry points

Demand release of pending sugar cane payments

LAHORE: Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) has once again staged a sit-in in favour of their demands on main Multan Road near Thokar Niaz Baig.

Angry farmers blocked entry and exit points of one of the main city gateways and disrupted the flow of traffic on Tuesday. Hundreds of farmers continued their protest for a second day to press the provincial government to release pending sugarcane payments worth Rs30 billion, ensure a subsidy on different agriculture inputs and waiver the arrears of agricultural tube wells.



Angry farmers blocked main Multan Road and the motorway by parking trolleys and trucks. This resulted in long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road and caused great inconvenience for commuters entering and leaving the city.

Farmers wanted to enter the city, but police narrowed the roads by placing containers. Protesters warned that if their demands were not accepted, they would hold a sit-in on Mall Road and even take control of the Punjab Assembly.

The PKI leaders also held a round of negotiations with Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah at the provincial assembly to discuss their demands and convince the government to accept them. After negotiations with farmer leaders, Sanaullah told the media that discussions between farmer leaders and the government were successful and the latter had accepted most of their demands.

He said sugar mills closed in South Punjab would also soon be reopened. A committee comprising MPAs Islam Aslam, Shaukat Hayyat Lalika, Mian Naveed Ali, Malik Arshad and Amjad Javed have been formed to prepare recommendations on PKI’s demands.

Nevertheless, representatives of the PKI said they would not stop the sit-in unless Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif took out time to hear their problems. They stated that there is no trust in Rana Sanaullah..

Legislators from southern Punjab, the food secretary, agriculture secretary, Lahore CCPO and Operations DIG were present during the meeting between Rana Sanaullah and the growers. Meanwhile, farmers continued their demonstration at Thokar Niaz Baig, causing severe hardships for commuters.



Speaking to the media, PKI leader Chaudhry Anwer warned his fellow demonstrators would march up to the Punjab Assembly and may take it over if the Punjab CM did not pay heed to their demands.

He also threatened to completely close Multan Road and M2 Motorways if they were not given time by the CM. The sit-in continued till the filing of this report.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2017.