HYDERABAD: The Sindh Agriculture Res­e­arch Council (SARC) announced on Monday to hold a protest demonstration at Bilawal House in Karachi on Dec 2 against delay in commencement of cane crushing by sugar millers and fixing of official sugar cane price.

The council, which met under the chairmanship of Advocate Ali Palh, said SARC had raised its voice, particularly for small farmers, on every forum, but did not get any positive response. Now it resolved to hold a protest demonstration outside Bilawal House to draw attention to protect farmers and save Sindh from economic destruction.

The meeting observed that it was an established fact that Sindh had 34 mills of which 19 were owned by Asif Ali Zardari and that’s why the Sindh agriculture minister was helpless to ensure commencement of crushing season by mills.

The council questioned as to why farmers were being deprived of their legitimate right under the 1950 law. It wondered why sugar mill owners and the Sindh government versus small farmers and peasants dispute in Sindh was repeated every year. Why every year farmers took to the streets to demand adequate sugar cane price and why the government failed to put a mechanism in place? it asked.

The meeting went on to ask why the Sindh government remained silent when a small farmer sold his sugar cane for less than Rs120/40kg to the middleman due to delay in start of crushing. When Sindh’s economy was based on agriculture, why an agriculture policy was not introduced? it asked.

It also asked why the government remained silent over misappropriation of billions of rupees in wheat procurement and distribution of gunny bags every year, and why spurious seed and pesticides were being sold under government’s patronage.

It said that since nothing was done without approval of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Zardari, the council decided to stage the protest outside Bilawal House to ask them the questions. It also asked that if such conditions persisted, how would people be able to have roti, kapra aur makan, which was the core commitment of the PPP manifesto.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2017