Pakistan’s Opposition parties have also extended their support to farmers saying the ill-fated decision to cut tax exemption has broken the agriculture economy, which is the backbone of the country’s economy…reports Asian Lite News
Farm distress is on the rise in Pakistan with various groups staging protests in multiple cities as the Imran Khan government has withdrawn all tax exemptions and imposed fresh taxes to fulfill International Monetary Fund’s demand to receive the loan, according to a media report.
Despite the opposition from the political parties and the people of Pakistan, the Imran Khan government went ahead with the withdrawal of various tax exemptions in January 2022 to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Experts had warned of serious negative impacts on the pillars of the economy. And the agriculture sector appears to be the first victim of the economic decision. Farmers have been holding protests against the Khan government for the shortage of essential crop inputs, expensive agriculture equipment and tools, and higher taxes, according to the International Forum For Right And Security (IFFRAS).
Imran Khan
Pakistan’s Opposition parties have also extended their support to farmers saying the ill-fated decision to cut tax exemption has broken the agriculture economy, which is the backbone of the country’s economy, said IFFRAS. Pakistani farmers have expressed anger as they face a shortage of fertilisers and increased rates of seeds. The farmers in the country mostly use Urea as fertiliser and its shortage is causing havoc on standing crops.
Mukhtiar Soomro, a farmer from Sindh province, blamed the Islamabad government for mismanagement that has left many farmers in the lurch. Soomro also said that his crop has turned yellow and their growth is going to be stunted without the urea, but the dealers in the market keep turning me away saying that there is a shortage of stock, according to IFFRAS.
Meanwhile, the Imran Khan government’s inaction against the rigged supplies in the market and justify higher prices of seeds have drawn criticism. Prices of maize seeds have increased from PKR 3,000 to 5,000.
According to IFFRAS, farmers in Pakistan are facing adverse climatic and market conditions. In such a scenario, the Imran Khan government’s decision to withdraw all tax exemptions has aggravated the farm distress in the country. Kissan Ittehad Awami Party has announced protests in Punjab’s Multan against the new taxes on agricultural materials and produce. The Party also has threatened to do sit-in protest in front of the Punjab Assembly from February 20 if the Islamabad government fails to resolve their concerns. (ANI)
Farmers have been protesting the government’s three farm laws since had passed the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020…reports Asian Lite News
In a major move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced the repealing of the three Central farm laws.
In his address to the nation, PM Modi said, “Today I want to tell everyone that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws.”
Farmers have been protesting the government’s three farm laws since had passed the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
The three farm laws are– The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act. (ANI)
The entire route from Sitapur to Lakhimpur Kheri was heavily barricaded. The Lakhimpur district administration allowed only seven vehicles in the convoy to enter the district…reports Asian Lite News.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday finally managed to meet the families of the farmers who were killed in Sunday’s violence at Tikunia village in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders met the family of deceased farmer Lovepreet at the Chaukhada farm in Palia at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
They later met the family of journalist Raman Kashyap, who was also killed in violence.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda accompanied the Gandhi siblings during their meetings with the farmers’ families.
The entire route from Sitapur to Lakhimpur Kheri was heavily barricaded. The Lakhimpur district administration allowed only seven vehicles in the convoy to enter the district.
Former Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam, however, were not so lucky as they were detained in Moradabad while they were on their way to Lakhimpur by car.
Earlier in the day, AAP MP Sanjay Singh also went to Lakhimpur to meet the bereaved families.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra will be visiting Lakhimpur on Thursday.
UP appoints judicial panel
The Uttar Pradesh government has deputed Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, to probe the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which nine persons lost their lives.
The judicial commission will have its office in Lakhimpur Kheri and it is required to submit its report within two months.
On October 4, the state government had announced that it would appoint a retired high court judge to ensure an impartial probe into the violence in which Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish is an accused.
MVA calls for bandh on Oct 11
In a significant development, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress have called for ‘Maharashtra Bandh’ on Monday (October 11) to protest against the killing of eight persons, including four farmers, in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh on October 3.
In another rare gesture, the state Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, observed two minutes’ silence and passed a unanimous resolution condoling the farmers’ deaths, expressing its anguish over the incident.
The MVA strongly condemned the Lakhimpur Kheri development and accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh for the “oppression and misuse of power”, and expressed the state government’s support for the farmers’ agitation.
Senior MVA ministers like Eknath Shinde (SS), Jayant Patil (NCP) and Balasaheb Thorat (Congress) briefed the media on the proposed ‘Maharashtra Bandh’, and said that all essential services will be kept out of its purview.
Earlier, NCP President Sharad Pawar had warned that the BJP would have to pay “a heavy price” for the brutal attack on farmers, and reiterated that the country’s entire opposition is with the peasantry.
“The responsibility for this lies with the BJP governments at the Centre and in UP. A similar situation was created in Jallianwala Bagh, we are witnessing the same scenario in UP now. The people will show them their place,” said Pawar.
Calling for united action by the three allies, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the “Lakhimpur Kheri violence has shaken the nation”.
शहीद लवप्रीत के परिवार से मिलकर दुख बाँटा लेकिन जब तक न्याय नहीं मिलेगा, तब तक ये सत्याग्रह चलता रहेगा।
He said a senior Congress leader has been illegally arrested by the UP government and other opposition leaders are barred from meeting the farmers or their families.
Flaying the BJP for the farmers’ deaths, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said that the UP and Central governments are “scared” of the Gandhi siblings.
He demanded the dismissal of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in UP for the deaths of eight persons, including four farmers.
Video shows minister’s vehicle mowing down farmers
Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s claim that his vehicle was attacked by miscreants before the driver lost control and mowed down farmers, stands “exposed” after a cleaner, longer clip of the viral video from Lakhimpur Kheri reveals what happened on Sunday before the violent clashes.
The viral video clip shows a black SUV – which belongs to the union minister according to his own admission – ploughing into an unarmed group of protesters at great speed.
Stop lying Ajay Mishra! Here is uncut video. Nobody hit your cars. There was no accident. The convoy just ploughed through crowd at full speed.
There are no signs of any attack on the Mahindra Thar vehicle. It shows no stones or sticks being thrown at the car or that the driver lost control resulting in the death of at least four farmers and injuries to many more.
In this video, the driver seems to holding on to the steering wheel firmly and driving at great speed into a group of farmers marching in front of the SUV, with their backs to it.
According to witnesses, it was after this incident, that an enraged mob attacked the cars, set them on fire and four people in the convoy were beaten to death.
A lower resolution, slowed-down version of the same video was earlier shared by a series of opposition leaders as proof that the blame for the Sunday’s clashes lay on the convoy of minister’s aides and BJP workers.
It may be recalled that farmers had gathered to protest against the visit of union home affairs minister Ajay Mishra and the state’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya at a wrestling match.
Farmer groups have been claiming that Mishra’s son had been in a car when the vehicle ran over four protesters, killing them. He has denied this charge.
The new video emerged on a day when the Supreme Court announced it was taking up the case as media reports and a letter from two lawyers to Chief Justice N.V. Ramana cast doubts on the Uttar Pradesh police investigation into the incident.
Four days after a murder case was filed against him, the minister’s son Ashish Mishra is yet to be arrested and government sources have ruled out the minister Ajay Mishra’s resignation, following a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday.
Punjab BJP leader Bhupesh Aggarwal and other local leaders of the party were allegedly attacked by farmers(Pic credit ANI)
The incident occurred in Rajpura town, some 40 km from the state capital….reports Asian Lite News
BJP leaders, who were taken hostage with family members by protesting farmers in a house in a Punjab town, were rescued early Monday by police after an over 12-hour ordeal and with the intervention of the high court.
Rescued leaders blamed the farmers for unlawful act in the pretext of protesting against the three farm laws enacted by the Central government. They blamed the state Congress government for supporting the farmers.
The incident occurred in Rajpura town, some 40 km from the state capital, where state general secretary Bhupesh Aggarwal was taken hostage along with others in a house on Sunday evening.
Aggarwal told the media that he along with other party leaders and workers assembled in the town a day earlier for a district-level party meeting at the Bharat Vikas Parishad building. The farmers reached the meeting venue and disrupted it.
Later they decided to hold a meeting in a house and they assembled there. The farmers reached there and held them hostage by snapping the water and electricity supply.
In a video on social media, protesters could be seen chasing and heckling local councillor Shanti Swarup and even tearing his clothes while he was being taken away by policemen. This incident occurred on Sunday.
However, the police denied he was attacked.
A police team led the Deputy Inspector General Vikramjit Duggal was at the spot to rescue and escort the hostage leaders to safety. The situation throughout the night remained tense.
When the holed up leaders were rescued by the police they claimed that the farmers chased, abused and heckled them. Also their vehicles were pelted with stones.
However, farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu blamed Aggarwal for provoking farmers by using abusive language. He said the incident flared up when Aggarwal’s bodyguard pointed a pistol at the peacefully protesting farmers.
The BJP approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court late Sunday and sought its intervention for the safety of its leaders.
Directing the state to ensure the persons alleged to be illegally detained “are provided safe exit with adequate security and no harm is caused to anyone of them”, Justice Suvir Sehgal asked the state to summit the report on July 12 at 2 p.m.
Reacting to attack on the party leaders, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said: “This is an attack on democracy. There is complete lawlessness in Punjab as police have become mute spectators.”
The farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the farm laws as they feel that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporate entities.
They are boycotting the BJP leaders too.
In October last, the vehicle in which BJP chief Ashwani Sharma was travelling was attacked by 30-40 people with bricks and sticks near the toll plaza in Hoshiarpur town.
Also the police fired tear gas shells and used water cannons in January to disperse protesting farmers, who stormed the helipad and vandalised the stage where Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was to address a ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ to highlight the benefits of Centre’s agriculture laws.
