JI sets April 15 deadline for staging farmers’ protest

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Punjab, announced on Monday that if the government did not address the demands of farmers by April 15, the party will launch widespread protests across all districts of the province in coordination with farmers.

Speaking at an all parties conference organised by JI Punjab on “wheat crisis, government incompetence, and anti-farmer policies”, JI Pakistan chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman warned of large-scale demonstrations if the government continued to ignore farmers’ legitimate demands. “We will take to the streets in every city of the province with full force,” he declared.

Criticising the government’s failure to procure wheat at the official rate and the lack of wheat support policy, he said: “Last year, even after setting the wheat price at Rs3,900 per 40kg, the government failed to purchase it, causing farmers a staggering loss of Rs1 trillion.”

Rehman emphasised that the wheat harvest was ready but climate change had reduced yields by 25–30 per cent, severely impacting farmers. “Agriculture cannot be revived without reforms and strong farmer-oriented policies. Developed countries ensured food security by first strengthening their agricultural systems,” he noted.

Other speakers at the conference — including Liaqat Baloch, Hasan Murtaza, Javed Kasuri, Khalid Bath, Dr Tariq Saleem, and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami — echoed concerns over the wheat crisis and economic hardships faced by farmers.

Baloch criticised the government’s economic “mismanagement”, saying: “Farmers are being economically strangled, while the government falsely claims wheat sowing targets have been met in South Punjab…In reality, farmers reduced cultivation due to losses.”

Murtaza pointed out that prices of essential farming inputs — fertilisers, seeds, electricity — had soared, while the government remains apathetic. “The government is deliberately neglecting the agricultural sector, while mafias continue to profit,” he said.

The speakers demanded from the government to immediately set the official wheat support price at Rs4,000 per 40kg, launch early wheat procurement drive, provide affordable access to threshers and gunny bags (bardana), end taxes on agricultural inputs, reduce electricity tariffs for farmers, announce an emergency agricultural policy in consultation with farmer representatives, and lift inter-provincial and inter-district restrictions on wheat transportation.

The JI vowed to continue its struggle until fair prices were guaranteed and the wheat crisis was resolved.