PESHAWAR: The growers have strongly condemned the announcement by health minister to impose ‘sin tax’ on tobacco and demanded of Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against the minister for insulting the farmers, who are earning livelihood through legal farming.

Sarhad Chamber of Agriculture provincial senior vice president Fazal Elahi Khan in a statement here on Thursday said that the term ‘sin tax’ was an insult of the people, who were cultivating tobacco crop since decades as it was their main source of livelihood.

He said that the minister was talking about Philippine where sin tax was imposed on alcohol and tobacco. “Is this the Naya Pakistan we have voted for where honest farmers are equalised with sinners and bootleggers,” he questioned.

Mr Khan said that the minister should collect money from smugglers, who stole billions in form of tax evasion. “Don’t look for the easy way out and overtax the industry, which is already heavily,” he added.

The leader of the farmers said that imposition of a new tax on tobacco after every two months was tantamount to killing the legal tobacco industry and paving way for using smuggled cigarettes. “It will destroy the livelihood of farmers,” he added.

Mr Khan said that they would never allow the government to deprive them of their livelihood and bring insult to honest and poor farmers. “In a province which is devastated by extremism, such measures are bound to entice poor people joining the ranks of criminal organisations,” he added.

He said that any move of the government to snatch their livelihoods would be resisted by thousands of poor farmers across the province. “I hope the prime minister will take notice of such ridiculous statements made by the health minister,” said Mr Khan.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2018