Pakistan: Farmers & their families plan protest against Imran Khan govt over GST exemption

Farmers in Pakistan have decided to demonstrate against the Imran Khan-led government in Multan City of Punjab province on February 14 after GST exemption from agriculture was revoked.

The News International reported that Khalid Mehmood Khkhar, president of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) on Saturday said that after several fruitless meetings with the representatives of the federal and provincial government, the organisation is forced to stage a demonstration in Multan followed by all the districts and provincial and federal capitals. 

As per the report, PKI president also said that animals, poultry, fish and farmers’ kids would be among the protesters along with farmers next month.

The protest on 14th February was decided after the government revoked the GST exemption from agriculture inputs such as maize hybrid imported seed, rice hybrid seed, vegetable seed, fodder seed, all local seeds, fish meal, animal feed, soyabean, raw cotton, benola, cottonseed oil, oil cakes, agriculture machinery, fodder, fish meal, animal feed and poultry feed machinery. ANI stated that the measure would not only trouble the farmers but also the animals.

PKI president questioned why lives of animals made difficult

PKI president, as per the report, said neither farmers nor animals get any loans from the IMF. Hence, he questioned why are there lives were being made difficult on the basis of conditions by IMF. Therefore, it is reportedly a unique protest where farmers and their animals will participate in the demonstration.

Earlier this month, farmers protesting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI's) poor agricultural policies were joined by the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in a tractor-trolley march on Friday. As per the report of Dawn, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told the farmers that "this handpicked government" has harmed the country's agricultural economy as much as it had harmed the overall economy in the last three years.

He also stated that agriculture was the country's economic backbone and offered his support to farmers protesting the government's alleged inadequate agricultural policies. Since Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came to power in 2018, he claimed that farmers have not been obtaining adequate prices for their crops, while input costs have skyrocketed.

Image: AP