LAHORE: Governor Punjab, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan strongly condemned the Rangers’ force for filing FIRs against farmers and harassing them in villages.
Despite, the government’s acknowledgement of over-billing, there is no justification for the Rangers to collect electricity bills from farmers, he said, adding: “It is not appropriate to make bread cheaper in cities by snatching food from farmers.”
He expressed these views during a meeting with an 80-member delegation of farmer organizations of Pakistan Kisan Ittehad and People’s Party South Punjab at the Governor House Lahore, who met him under the leadership of Chief Coordinator South Punjab Abdul Qadir Shaheen.
In the meeting, a detailed discussion was held regarding the difficulties faced by farmers, government indifference, inflation, and the crisis in the agricultural sector.
Farmer leaders vehemently criticized the government’s current policies, labelling them as “anti-agriculture” and detrimental to the interests of the farming community and demanded immediate reforms.
Speaking on the occasion, the governor said that the agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy. The government will have to take concrete steps to develop the agriculture sector and provide more relief to the farmers and cultivators. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party is the only political party that has always raised its voice for the rights of farmers.
The governor said that the PPP cannot leave farmers and cultivators alone. He said that it is a matter of great regret that the government is using high-handed tactics to file FIRs against farmers and cultivators in villages and harass them with the help of Rangers. He said that the atrocities against farmers will be taken notice not only by me but also by my leadership. He said that due to the high cost of fertilizers and seeds, the farmers are already crushed and the overcharges of electricity have broken the back of the farmers. In these circumstances, there is no justification for collecting electricity bills from farmers through the Rangers.
He said a 3-member special committee has been formed at the Governor House, Lahore to solve the problems of farmers and cultivators. He further said that he will raise the problems of farmers in his meeting with the President, Prime Minister and Chairman PPP, Bilawal Bhutto. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party will not leave the farmers and cultivators alone, so the cultivators also have the right not to leave the PPP alone.
The governor said that agricultural reforms were first carried out by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, which was the best step for the farmers and cultivators.
On this occasion, the leaders of the Kisan Ittehad expressed full confidence in the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party, especially Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and announced their decision of joining the party. He said that the PPP is the only political party that has always raised the voice of the downtrodden classes, labourers and farmers and has taken practical steps to solve their problems in a real sense.
Central leaders of the Kisan Ittehad including Mian Amir Wattoo, District President Bahawalnagar Malik Muhammad Saleem, Haseeb Anwar, Malik Zulfiqar Awan and others held the PML-N government and the Sharif family responsible for the poor state of the agriculture sector, saying that farmers are being harassed as a result of revengeful actions. He said that raids are being carried out on farmers’ houses and camps with the help of Wapda and Rangers, and a conspiracy is being hatched to destroy agriculture by removing electricity meters and transformers from tube wells.
The farmer leaders alleged that an artificial shortage of fertilizer is being created and distributed to favour individuals, while ordinary farmers are being forced to buy it in the black market at many times higher prices. Similarly, farmers are being exploited by increasing the prices of agricultural chemicals. He said that due to the wrong policies of the government, small farmers have become miserable. Despite the huge increase in the cost of production of crops, they are not getting a fair price, due to which they are facing a severe financial crisis.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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