Farmers protest for increase in government rates of wheat and sugarcane, several farmers injured by police baton charge.

 (Sindh Tribune) : To quell the protests of hundreds of farmers from different districts of Punjab this morning, Lahore police beat them with sticks, fired water cannons and tear gas at them and then arrested many of them.  Taken

 Abbas Kaliar, a farmer leader from Bahawalpur, also joined the protest.  "We were asleep at night when the police suddenly attacked us," he said.  At that moment, it was as if we were in a war-torn area, and the opposition was attacking us.

 The farmers had gathered at Thokar Niaz Baig in southwest Lahore on Tuesday evening, where they later set up a roadside protest camp.  Their leaders say the rally was completely peaceful, but police claim that protesters blocked the main thoroughfares passing through Thokar Niaz Beg.

Wajid Nawal, a farmer from Jhang, who was involved in the protest, blamed Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat for the violence against the protesters, as he had promised us that our demands would be met. Instead of importing, the police were used against us.

 Once dispersed by the police operation, the farmers gathered again to protest at around 9 pm, but were dispersed again by dozens of policemen.

 Chaudhry Anwar says, "We came to Lahore to tell the government that the official prices of wheat and sugarcane that you have fixed are very low, so they should be reviewed." "The government should have negotiated with us, but it treated us as if we were terrorists."

 Talking to Sagag, he explained that the government has decided to fix the official price of wheat at Rs 1,600 per 40 kg, but this is not enough for farmers as the cost of the crop outweighs the revenue. There are more. 

"The price of sugarcane is currently Rs 200 per 40 kg but we demand that it be raised to Rs 300 per 40 kg and the Sugar Mills Ordinance 2020 be repealed so that the government Instead of being determined by the market, it can be determined according to the demand.

 They also demanded that the previous rate of Rs 5.35 per unit for electric tube wells be restored and immediate and effective action be taken against those who manufacture and sell counterfeit pesticides.

 But he says the government is not paying attention to their demands even though its policies are "making the farmer miserable".