Sugarcane farmer attempts self-immolation
Protests held over support price, crushing schedule
PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD:
Showing signs of aggravation of a conflict between sugarcane farmers and the sugar mills, a protesting peasant attempted self-immolation during a demonstration in Mirpurkhas on Thursday.
Majeed Qambrani, who suffered 40% burn injuries, is a small land-holder who joined the other protesters at Mirpurkhas toll plaza.
"The mill owners are plunging us into abject poverty," he shouted while pouring fuel over himself, according to local reporters. "When your children remain hungry, you have no choice but to kill yourself."
He said that if he died due to immolation, the FIR should be lodged against owners of the sugar mills because they were forcing him to take his own life. Qambrani, who reportedly grew sugarcane on around four acres, was brought to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital because the Mirpurkhas District Hospital lacks the facility for treatment of burns.
The standoff between the farmers and the mills, like past many years, started as early as October. The former asked the provincial government to notify the sugarcane rates and start of the crushing season in accordance with the Sindh Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950.
However, the farmers allege, under influence of the mills the government delayed the notification till the first week of this month. A rate of Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes was fixed for the crop but the growers claim the mills paid Rs120 to Rs140.
Subsequently, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered the mills to pay Rs172 per 40kg to farmers and deposit Rs10 per 40kg in the court until the judiciary’s decision on the matter. Despite the order, many mills began to close their operations temporarily.
The protest sit-in on Thursday lasted five hours during which Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas traffic remained blocked. Sindh Abadgar Board's vice president Sarfaraz Juenjo, who led the protest, accused the mills of destroying the livelihood of millions of farmers.
"Instead of standing with the farmers, Sindh government is conniving with the millers, owing to which even the SHC order hasn't been implemented," he claimed. The farmers’ representatives, including Umer Bughio, Javed Junejo and Iqbal Rajput, announced that they would stage another sit-in when PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari would visit Mirpurkhas for a public meeting on Jan 5.
Protest demonstrations were also held in Nawabshah, Tando Muhammad Khan, Thatta, Tando Allahyar and other districts.
Showing signs of aggravation of a conflict between sugarcane farmers and the sugar mills, a protesting peasant attempted self-immolation during a demonstration in Mirpurkhas on Thursday.
Majeed Qambrani, who suffered 40% burn injuries, is a small land-holder who joined the other protesters at Mirpurkhas toll plaza.
"The mill owners are plunging us into abject poverty," he shouted while pouring fuel over himself, according to local reporters. "When your children remain hungry, you have no choice but to kill yourself."
He said that if he died due to immolation, the FIR should be lodged against owners of the sugar mills because they were forcing him to take his own life. Qambrani, who reportedly grew sugarcane on around four acres, was brought to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital because the Mirpurkhas District Hospital lacks the facility for treatment of burns.
The standoff between the farmers and the mills, like past many years, started as early as October. The former asked the provincial government to notify the sugarcane rates and start of the crushing season in accordance with the Sindh Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950.
However, the farmers allege, under influence of the mills the government delayed the notification till the first week of this month. A rate of Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes was fixed for the crop but the growers claim the mills paid Rs120 to Rs140.
Subsequently, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered the mills to pay Rs172 per 40kg to farmers and deposit Rs10 per 40kg in the court until the judiciary’s decision on the matter. Despite the order, many mills began to close their operations temporarily.
The protest sit-in on Thursday lasted five hours during which Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas traffic remained blocked. Sindh Abadgar Board's vice president Sarfaraz Juenjo, who led the protest, accused the mills of destroying the livelihood of millions of farmers.
"Instead of standing with the farmers, Sindh government is conniving with the millers, owing to which even the SHC order hasn't been implemented," he claimed. The farmers’ representatives, including Umer Bughio, Javed Junejo and Iqbal Rajput, announced that they would stage another sit-in when PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari would visit Mirpurkhas for a public meeting on Jan 5.
Protest demonstrations were also held in Nawabshah, Tando Muhammad Khan, Thatta, Tando Allahyar and other districts.