PESHAWAR, Sept 14: Growers on Saturday held a demonstration in front of the local press club to protest against the World Trade Organization regime.

The demonstration was organized by the NWFP Kisan Board.

Members of the Kisan Board from Mardan, Charssada and Peshawar condemned the WTO’s free trade agreement, urging the federal government to reject what they termed the destructive WTO policies.

Protestors were carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-WTO slogans.

Terming the free trade agreement destructive, Vice-President of the NWFP Kisan Board Arbab Jamil said Pakistan was also one of its signatory, adding that it was a “conspiracy against the developing and under-developed countries.”

The WTO regime, he said, sought to destroy the agriculture, trade and industry of the developing and under-developed countries, adding that enforcement of the policy in this regard would increase these countries’ dependence on the developed countries.

Arbab Jamil was of the view that the WTO’s free trade policy would harm the national agriculture, saying that it would also mean an end to the country’s economic freedom.

Urging the government to clarify the situation regarding the signing of the free trade agreement, he said the people should be informed about the agreements’ effects, adding that Pakistan’s withdrawal from the agreement would be in “the supreme interest of farmers.”—PPI