ISLAMABAD, April 17: The International Day of Farmers' Struggle (IDFS) was observed here on Saturday with the resolve to resist the policies of the government and international players aimed at depriving the small farmers of their rights.

A large number of farmers from different parts of the country attended a function here, organised by the Sustainable Agriculture Action Group, an umbrella organization of more than 15 civil society bodies and farmers' groups.

The IDFS was instituted in 1996 to highlight the deaths of 19 peasants who were massacred during the landless farmers' movement in Brazil.

This year, the day has been dedicated to Lee Kyung Hae, a Korean farmer, who committed suicide, while advocating the cause of millions of small farmers at the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Cancun, Mexico, last September.

Although, more than a dozen parliamentarians had been invited to the meeting, only two, Senator Sanaullah Baloch of Pakistan National Party (Balochistan) and Maj (retired) Zulfikar Ali Gondal of Pakistan People's Party (Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat), turned up.