LARKANA: The stand-off between rice millers and paddy growers over cuts in weightage of crop consignments prolonged on Tuesday when former announced that they would keep their mills closed till Friday. Growers also vowed to intensify their protest by staging sit-ins outside the Qambar-Shahdadkot deputy commissioner’s office over the next three days and hold a march up to the Sindh Assembly building if the issue remained unresolved by Friday.

Owners of close to 100 rice mills in the district abruptly shut down their establishments on Monday when Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sajjad Haider Qadri and DSP Yar Mohammed Rind along with a police team arrived in the Anaj Mandi — a major paddy trading market in Sindh — to ensure compliance of the agreement between the two sides on doing away with applying cuts on weightage of consignment.

Some millers were found violating the agreement and were asked by the SDM to mend their ways which irritated millers. Their association announced closure of their mills in protest against official monitoring of the trading.

Paddy growers blocked the roads leading to Shahdadkot with their crop-laden vehicles for many hours over millers’ attitude but were persuaded by the district administration to end their protest in the evening.

On Tuesday several hundred paddy growers assembled at Koto-Moto Chowk in Shahdadkot to demand resumption of the trade and compliance of the agreement.

The protesters riding different vehicles later moved to Qambar, some 30 kilometres away from Shahdadkot, in a big procession and reached the town’s by-pass, where growers from Qambar also joined them.

The joint rally proceeded to the deputy commissioner’s office, where a sit-in was held.

Sindh Abadgar Board general secretary Abdul Khalik Khoso, Khalid Umar Khoso, Gaibi Khan Mugheri, Shehri Ittehad president Abdul Wahab Pandrani and other leaders of growers’ organisations, including those from Gandakha (Balochistan), spoke to the protesters and endorsed their demand.

SDM Qadri and Additional Deputy Commissioner-I (ADC-I) Amir Ali Mirani held negotiations with their leaders but could not convince them to end their sit-in. DC Jawed Ahmed Jagirani then joined in the talks and asked them to suspend their protest till Friday. He told growers’ leaders that he had talked to the agriculture secretary on the issue and requested him to issue notices to paddy buyers through the market committee in order to stop the illegal cuts. Notices were also being issued to millers in this regard, he added.

The DC said that if they [traders] did not adhere to the administration’s orders, action against them would be initiated in accordance with the relevant law.

After the DC’s assurance, the protesters ended the sit-in.

Later, speaking to local reporters, growers’ leaders criticised the indifferent attitude of the elected representatives from the area who, according to them, would always turn to them for votes but were found nowhere at the time of need.

A good number of women activists belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) led by Naheed Khuhawar also joined the protest.

Speaking to local reporters on Tuesday, rice miller’s representative Manzoor Chandio declared that the mills would remain closed till Friday in protest against interference by the district administration in trading at Anaj Mandi.

Daily wage earners and other labourers associated with the business and employed at the mills appeared to be the worst-hit segment due to the stand-off.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2019