Pervaiz for accepting farmers’ demands

LAHORE

PML-Q leader Ch Pervaiz Elahi has questioned why the rulers are not changing the policy of ‘favouring’ the Indian farmers by importing Indian potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables and ‘destroying’ Pakistan agriculture and farmers. 

“On one hand Modi is shutting down our water and on the other hand our rulers are arresting our farmers,” he said.  In a statement issued on Wednesday, the PML-Q leader said instead of putting the farmers in jails, the rulers should immediately accept their demands and provide them cheap electricity, water, fertiliser, seed and massive incentives and facilities. 

Condemning the crackdown to stop farmers’ protest, Ch Pervaiz Elahi said PML-Q fully supported the farmers’ demands. “The rulers are strengthening Indian agriculture economy and destroying our agriculture. Whenever N-League comes to power it starts economic massacre of farmers. Pakistan is an agricultural country. If the farmers of the country do not prosper, how Pakistan becomes prosperous,” Pervaiz Elahi alleged. 

He said farmers are concerned about their ready crops, but the rulers have forced them to protest.  “During our tenure we had exempted twelve-and-half acres of agricultural from tax, 50 per cent of electricity bill for tube-wells was paid by our government, water was carried till tail, subsidy was given on fertiliser prices, concrete water courses were constructed, but the rulers scrapped all these due to which the farmers are in miserable condition today,” he added. He said in every country special care is taken of the farmers, but in Punjab enmity is done with the farmers.