Farmers warn of countrywide blockade

ISLAMABAD: Farmers staging protest under the umbrella of the Kissan Ittehad on Thursday warned of jamming the whole country.Thousands of farmers continued their sit-in for the second day at the edge of Islamabad’s Red Zone for the fulfillment of their demands. They are demanding restoration of the previous tubewell electricity tariff of Rs 5.3 per unit and abolishing all taxes and fuel price adjustments. They are demanding an end to black marketing of fertilizers and reduction in urea rate. They say agriculture should be given the status of industry.

In a statement on Thursday, police said the farmers would not be allowed to enter the Red Zone as they might have batons or other weapons. The demonstrators claimed that the government had not yet sent any delegation to negotiate with them and only local administration officials approached them.