In Punjab, the protests were held in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, Jhang, Pakpattan, Chiniot, Kasur, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Burewala, Chishtian and Jampur.
In Sindh, the farmers took to streets in Karachi, Shikarpur, Nawabshah, Qamber Shahdadkot, Nowshehru Feroze, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Sanghar and Shahpur Chakar. Protests were also held in Quetta and Jhal Magsi in Balochistan, and in Peshawar and Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In Lahore, hundreds of farmers, including men, women and youth, assembled at Charing Cross on The Mall. They demanded the Punjab government to immediately begin buying wheat from the growers.
Addressing the demonstrators, PKRC general secretary Farooq Tariq presented the charter of demands of the farmers. It included immediate start of purchase of grain from farmers; arrest of those involved in wheat import before harvest season; market regulation to ensure fair price of each produce; withdrawal of grain import policy for private sector; minimum support price for all crops; rejection of ‘neoliberal’ and ‘anti-farmer’ policies of the International Monetary Fund; compensation for farmers affected by the wheat scandal; and strict action against those lending money to small farmers on interest.
Mehr Mohammad Buta, a smallholder from Sheikhupura, said that as the government did not buy wheat from them as a result of which the grain market crashed, leaving the growers high and dry and unable to plant next crops.
Those who addressed the demonstration in Lahore included Saima Zaa, Rifat Maqsood, Qamar Abbas, Zaigham Abbas, Hasnain Jameel, Ali Abdullah and others. A heavy police contingent was present on the occasion.
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Mahinder Singh (98) from Gurdaspur will be among the torchbearers on the 100th day of farmer protest for guaranteed MSP at the Shambhu border on the Delhi-Amritsar highway.
Exemplifying the indomitable spirit of farmers to protest in this scorching heat, another farmer Raj Singh (85) has come on his bicycle all the way from Gurdaspur to the protest site.
A special tribute is being planned for the 22 farmers, who have died during the 100-day protest. It includes 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh, who is a symbol of the protest and his picture is hung in several tents, pandal and tractor-trailers parked at the Shambhu border.
Farmers have started coming to the protest site since morning. Though farmers have set up a big pandal at the ground zero, many small tents have also been erected near the site.
The pandal at the protest site has taken the shape of Pind Di Satth, a common place in villages where people gather for discussion.
The tractor-trailers with tarpaulin sheets, fans and refrigerators have been converted into a home. Though the temperature is around 45 degrees Celsius and the Met Department has issued severe heatwave warning, farm leaders are expecting a gathering of about 40,000 farmers at the site. The Punjab Police, too, have set up nakas for the smooth flow of traffic.
Discussing the strategy for Wednesday, Amarjeet Singh Mohri, president, BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), Haryana, along with Jaat leader Ashok Bulara, said, “We want legal status of the MSP and its fixation according to Dr Swaminathan’s formula C2 plus 50 per cent, total debt waiver of farmers and agri workers, social security of Rs 10,000 per month, justice for Lakhimpur Kheri farmers and crop insurance scheme at government expenses,” said Mohri.
