QUETTA, Feb 6: Speakers at a public meeting here have demanded that the bank loans given to farmers in Balochistan should be waived.

Speaking at the public meeting held to observe the death anniversary of the four farmers killed by police on Feb 5, 2001, at Mianghundi, they called upon the government to end military action and resolve the Balochistan issue through negotiations.

Zamindar Action Committee chairman Syed Taj Agha, National party president Dr Hayee Baloch, Balochistan National party (Mengal) acting president Malik Wali Kakar, Khudadad Khan of the Awami National Party, Anjuman-i-Tajiranm president Abdur Rahim Kakar and others paid tribute those who had laid down their lives in police firing while struggling to protect the rights of farmers.

The speakers said the government’s attitude towards the cultivators was not encouraging. They said the farmers were facing numerous problems, which was affecting agricultural growth in Balochistan.

They claimed that drought, loadshedding and lowering of underground water level over the past few years had badly affected the farmers and made them dependent on the loans from banks.

They said Balochistan was rich in natural resources and it had a long coastal belt but the life of the people of the province was miserable.

They said 70 per cent of the people of Balochistan depended on agriculture and the government must support the growers to improve their standard of living.