ISLAMABAD: Pakistani farmers on Sunday announced a nationwide protest over the wheat import crisis from May 10, a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised to address their grievances.
Farmers in Pakistan’s Punjab province, which produces most of the wheat crop, are demanding the government stop wheat imports that have flooded the market at a time when they expect bumper crop.
They say the import of wheat in the second half of 2023 and the first three months of this year has resulted in excess amounts of the commodity in the country, leading to reduced prices.
On Saturday, PM Sharif took notice of the matter and formed a committee under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to address farmer grievances, Pakistani state media reported.
“On the 10th [of May], after the Friday prayers, we are initiating protest from Multan and this protest will be expanded to the whole of Pakistan,” Khalid Khokhar, who heads the Kissan Ittehad Pakistan, said at a press conference.
“Thousands of farmers will come, there will be hundreds of tractors, trailers. Animals, cattle and children and women will also be accompanied.”
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and constitutes its largest sector. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for half of the employed labor force in the country.
However, the prices of wheat have dropped in Pakistan in recent weeks and are much below the government’s support price of Rs3,900 per 40-kilogram bag.
“We do not have any option other than this. The mafia made Rs100 billion, Pakistan’s $1 billion worth of foreign exchange was spent and the farmers incurred around Rs400 billion losses,” Khokhar said.
“They slaughtered 60 million farmers just for the sake of corruption.”
Pakistan farmers announce nationwide protest from May 10 amid wheat import crisis
https://arab.news/jdkjb
Pakistan farmers announce nationwide protest from May 10 amid wheat import crisis
- Farmers are demanding the government stop wheat imports that have flooded markets, leading to price slump
- Agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the GDP and accounts for half of the employed labor force in Pakistan
Pakistani religious parties call nationwide protests over US-Israel strikes on Iran
- Public anger has been on the rise in Pakistan amid US, Israeli strikes on Iran
- Nationwide protests have claimed lives of at least 25 people in the country
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani religio-political parties have called for nationwide protests on Friday over ongoing United States-Israeli strikes on Iran and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, they said, amid Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel and US interests in the Gulf region.
Khamenei was killed in the first hours of the US-Israeli air campaign that began on Saturday in the first assassination of a country’s top ruler by an airstrike. His killing sparked violent protests in Pakistan, with at least 25 people killed in clashes with law enforcers.
The joint air assault is nearing the end of its first week after opening salvos killed Iran’s leaders and set off a regional war, with Iranian retaliatory attacks in Israel, the Gulf and Iraq, and Israeli extending scope of its attacks to Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Today, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will hold peaceful protests to condemn the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and express solidarity with the Iranian people,” Salman Shaikh, the JI media director, told Arab News on Friday. “Demonstrations are scheduled to take place after Jummah (Friday) prayers outside mosques as well as at all district headquarters across Pakistan.”
Anger has been on the rise in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran that have killed Khamenei and other senior officials. While Shiites are a minority nationwide, they form a majority in some northern districts and boast significant numbers in major urban centers.
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi also stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Senator Raja Nasir, chief of the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) party, said his party’s workers and supporters would hold peaceful protests across the country after Friday prayers over the killing of Khamenei and the “open aggression” of the United States and Israel.
“These peaceful protests are not just a reaction, but a clear declaration of resistance against oppression, tyranny and global colonialism,” he said on X. “Their aim is to awaken the Muslim Ummah, express solidarity with the oppressed, and send a message to the world that the voice of truth and justice cannot be suppressed.”
Meanwhile, security have been beefed up and routes leading to sensitive government and diplomatic buildings in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad have been closed by authorities to prevent any untoward incident.
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
The US embassy and its consulates in Karachi and Lahore canceled visa appointments and American Citizen Services on Monday, citing security concerns.
