Farmers continue sit-in as talks fail with govt

Pakistan Kissan Ittehad threatens to march towards Red Zone

ISLAMABAD:

The talks between the protesting farmers and Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah have remained inconclusive, with the former warning to expand the scope of their protest including marching towards the red zone in Islamabad.

The farmers from all over the country are protesting in the federal capital.

Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) Chairman Khalid Hussain said that the interior minister returned their delegation saying that his team was on holiday on Saturday and Sunday so they must approach him on Monday or Tuesday. He claimed that Sanaullah warned the PKI delegation that the preparations government had made for tackling the potential long march of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) might be applied on the protesting farmers.

On the other hand, the federal interior minister maintained that the sit-in protest organised by the farmers was unjustified. He said that a committee has been set up by the cabinet which is working to reduce electricity bills applied on agricultural tube wells, adding that the committee will meet again on Monday and consider all the proposals. “The government is taking the legitimate demands of farmers seriously,” he said.

Sanaullah said that the red zone is a redline and farmers or any other group are not allowed to protest or stage a sit-in there. The law will be activated against those marching towards the red zone, he said, adding that there are also clear orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that no protest can be held in the red zone.

Meanwhile, the farmers' protest in the capital city’s Khayaban Chowk continued for the fourth day. Addressing the media, PKI chairman Khalid Hussain said, “Caravans of farmers are reaching Islamabad from all over the country and they will shut down the whole country if they are given just one signal by their association.”

He further said that the farmer community was also upset with Imran Khan as the former prime minister did not even post a single tweet for the farmers' rights, while Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was not meeting the farmers for fear of Tariq Cheema, who has threatened that he will leave the coalition if talks are held with the protesting farmers, he claimed.

The PKI chairman said that Sanaullah had a different tone when he met them on Saturday. “The interior minister returned us without holding any deliberations saying that his team would be available after the weekend on Monday or Tuesday,” he lamented.

Hussain said that the farmers were also considering to march towards the red zone in the federal capital. “We will consult our friends whether to wait till Tuesday or march towards the red zone," he said, adding that at present, the delegation was going to Imran Khan. He deplored that the PTI minister from Punjab harassed the farmers a lot. In some areas of the province, the water in canals is so toxic that the farmers are dying, he complained, saying the farmers did not expect Imran’s government in Punjab to treat them the way they were treated.

The PKI chairman said that the Punjab chief minister forced them to enter into an agreement with the government that they would not enter Lahore. He wondered whether Lahore was a personal property of those in the Punjab government.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2022.