Sugarcane growers stage sit-in

BAHAWALPUR: Scores of sugarcane growers on Wednesday staged a sit-in and temporarily blocked the railway track and the National Highway for many hours at Tranda Sawaiy Khan near Rahimyar Khan to register their protest against plundering by the sugar mills in the district. Led by the leaders of Pakistan Kissan Foundation and many Kissan organizations, the protesters split in many groups when they came to know that their so-called leaders had struck the deal with the mills owners. Police rushed to the scene when they blocked the railway track. Later, they staged sit-in at National Highway which was ended after the dialogue with the district administration. Talking to The News, many protesters said they were passing through the worst period of their agriculture life as their sugarcane crop was ready to harvest but the mills owners and their agent mafia were busy looting them under various pretexts. “The local administration has also silent over this treatment of mills’ owners with us.”