Poppy ‘better’ than poverty: Farmers have no choice but to violate ban
Torghar residents blame govt for failure to develop district, provide incentives.
A rare show of cooperation between tribal elders and police, as officials destroy poppy crops in Torgarh. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ABBOTABAD:
Left with little alternative for their livelihood, farmers in Torghar turn to the centuries-old tradition of growing poppy and risk having their crop destroyed by authorities.
The crop is banned under the Anti-Narcotics Programme launched in Pakistan in 1985. However, village elders, political leaders and activists agree that farmers will continue to violate the ban in Hazara district unless the government invests in the development of the area as promised.
“For their sustenance the farmers have no choice but to grow the illegal crop, as they have no other job opportunities, no compensation packages, no healthcare or education,” said Dr Siraj, an elder from Judba. He added that the people of Torgarh live in the ‘stone age’. While many residents earn a living in urban centres such as Peshawar, Abbottabad, Karachi and Islamabad, their families at home still need to eat three meals a day, he said.
“The Madakhel tribe has grown poppy on over 100 kanals of land during 2012 alone,” said one villager, requesting anonymity. Even officials were in on the illegal production. He recalled an incident last year when 11 police constables and eight levies officials were arrested for growing poppy. A source at the Kandar police station confirmed their involvement and said the officials were suspended for violating the ban.
Residents have been cultivating poppy along with wheat in majority areas inhabited by the Madakhel tribe. Growers from Hasan Zai, Akazai, Basi Khel and Nusratkhel also produce the lucrative crop on remote hills.
While law enforcement officials carry out operations to destroy these crops, farmers continue to lay the seed in the hopes of a new harvest five months later.
“The police destroyed the crop this time as well, but many farmers managed to collect the “payee” (milky opium extract), before the operation” said one tribal elder.
Government negligence
“How can they stop growing the banned crop when they face starvation?” said Zahid Khan, district coordinator for Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP). The land is not suitable to grow much else and farmers do not have access to modern agriculture techniques or tools, he said.
According to the rights activist, when Torghar was named a district of Hazara Division, tribal elders were promised development packages worth billions of rupees. They were also promised their 23-point charter of demands. The Rs4.5 billion approved earlier by the Awami National Party (ANP) government was spent on the construction of public offices instead of improving the standard of living in the area, Khan said.
“We are also against growing poppy but what choice do we have when there are no resources and people live below the poverty line,” said Haji Namroz Khan, a former MPA from the area who served as the minister for religious affairs for ANP’s government. The lack of hospitals, schools, employment and agriculture facilities are proof of the government’s negligence.
According to the former MPA, the ancestral land of the people was taken away from them for the construction of Tarbela Dam, and those affected have yet to receive proper compensation.
“To get rid of the poppy crop from Torghar, the government must allocate at least Rs18 billion along with a tax-free industrial zone,” he said.
DPO Torghar Iftikharuddin said officials have destroyed the illegal crop from an estimated area of 80 acres. Contrary to what residents have said, the police official claimed that there has been no resistance from farmers, unlike previous years, because the local political leadership was taken on board. He claimed Torghar’s farmers extended their cooperation to the police after a jirga and promised not to grow poppy next year.
The DPO said that since farmers were willing to cooperate there was no need to register a criminal case against them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.
Left with little alternative for their livelihood, farmers in Torghar turn to the centuries-old tradition of growing poppy and risk having their crop destroyed by authorities.
The crop is banned under the Anti-Narcotics Programme launched in Pakistan in 1985. However, village elders, political leaders and activists agree that farmers will continue to violate the ban in Hazara district unless the government invests in the development of the area as promised.
“For their sustenance the farmers have no choice but to grow the illegal crop, as they have no other job opportunities, no compensation packages, no healthcare or education,” said Dr Siraj, an elder from Judba. He added that the people of Torgarh live in the ‘stone age’. While many residents earn a living in urban centres such as Peshawar, Abbottabad, Karachi and Islamabad, their families at home still need to eat three meals a day, he said.
“The Madakhel tribe has grown poppy on over 100 kanals of land during 2012 alone,” said one villager, requesting anonymity. Even officials were in on the illegal production. He recalled an incident last year when 11 police constables and eight levies officials were arrested for growing poppy. A source at the Kandar police station confirmed their involvement and said the officials were suspended for violating the ban.
Residents have been cultivating poppy along with wheat in majority areas inhabited by the Madakhel tribe. Growers from Hasan Zai, Akazai, Basi Khel and Nusratkhel also produce the lucrative crop on remote hills.
While law enforcement officials carry out operations to destroy these crops, farmers continue to lay the seed in the hopes of a new harvest five months later.
“The police destroyed the crop this time as well, but many farmers managed to collect the “payee” (milky opium extract), before the operation” said one tribal elder.
Government negligence
“How can they stop growing the banned crop when they face starvation?” said Zahid Khan, district coordinator for Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP). The land is not suitable to grow much else and farmers do not have access to modern agriculture techniques or tools, he said.
According to the rights activist, when Torghar was named a district of Hazara Division, tribal elders were promised development packages worth billions of rupees. They were also promised their 23-point charter of demands. The Rs4.5 billion approved earlier by the Awami National Party (ANP) government was spent on the construction of public offices instead of improving the standard of living in the area, Khan said.
“We are also against growing poppy but what choice do we have when there are no resources and people live below the poverty line,” said Haji Namroz Khan, a former MPA from the area who served as the minister for religious affairs for ANP’s government. The lack of hospitals, schools, employment and agriculture facilities are proof of the government’s negligence.
According to the former MPA, the ancestral land of the people was taken away from them for the construction of Tarbela Dam, and those affected have yet to receive proper compensation.
“To get rid of the poppy crop from Torghar, the government must allocate at least Rs18 billion along with a tax-free industrial zone,” he said.
DPO Torghar Iftikharuddin said officials have destroyed the illegal crop from an estimated area of 80 acres. Contrary to what residents have said, the police official claimed that there has been no resistance from farmers, unlike previous years, because the local political leadership was taken on board. He claimed Torghar’s farmers extended their cooperation to the police after a jirga and promised not to grow poppy next year.
The DPO said that since farmers were willing to cooperate there was no need to register a criminal case against them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.