SWABI: Awami National Party leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Monday blamed the federal government for the woes of the tobacco growers and said his party would stand by the protesting farmers until the ‘unjust taxes’ were withdrawn.

“The flawed policies of the federal government have left the tobacco growers in the lurch, prompting them to launch a protest campaign, which will continue till withdrawal of unjust taxes,” he told a protest gathering held in the Yar Hussain town here.

The protesters condemned their ‘exploitation’ by companies and the Pakistan Tobacco Board’s failure to protect their rights.

The protesters also chanted slogans against both the federal and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments.

Insiders in ANP said that the decision to hold the protest stemmed from the ‘flawed’ approach of the Tobacco Action Committee leaders who ran a two-month campaign to push for withdrawal of the Rs390 federal excise duty, but to no effect.

Mr Hoti asked Federal Minister Amir Muqam and KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, being representatives of the federal government, to take up the issues of the tobacco growers with the Centre.

He said that the federal and provincial governments should protect the rights of tobacco farmers.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026