Siraj links national prosperity to farmers’ well-being

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said the development of agriculture and prosperity of farmers can guarantee development and prosperity in the country.
He said that the rule of farmers in the country would mean liberation from the IMF and the World Bank. He was addressing a Kisan convention organised by the Kisan Board of Pakistan (KBP) at Mansoora auditorium on Saturday.
JI deputy chief Mian Muhammad Aslam and KBP chief Sadiq Khan Khakwani were also present. Sirajul Haq said that the system based on exploitation continued in the country and had shattered the nation’s dreams of development and progress. He said the country’s development largely depended on agriculture as almost 70 per cent of the population was directly or indirectly linked to agriculture.
He said that Japan, a small and backward country, had reached the heights of development simply because of an honest leadership whereas Pakistan, a country having vast resources, was facing problems of poverty and backwardness because of corrupt and dishonest leadership. The JI chief wondered why people in Thar were dying of hunger if the government had sufficient stocks of wheat?
He said the JI was launching a movement for the rule of farmers in the country with the aim to seek farmers’ support for getting rid of the ruling elite. He also stressed upon the masses to stop feeding the serpents by voting them to power again and again and instead, vote for JI candidates who were known for their integrity and competence. The JI would develop a green and clean Pakistan with the active support of the farming community, he added.
Sirajul Haq said that even workers of political parties that remained in power time and again were oppressed and neglected. They were duped through catchy slogans and promised happy days head but their lot had not improved so far. He said the JI was the voice of all oppressed workers and the poor who had offered sacrifices for the country and the nation but had not got the fruit of their labour.
The JI chief said that farmers worked hard throughout the year but did not get due reward for their labour. The government is reluctant to purchase the crop and thus the exploitation of growers continued. Farmers in KP had suffered heavily from rain storms in recent weeks which had caused much harm but the government had not announced any relief for them.
Siraj deplored that the Pakistan government had never raised voice at international level against India’ water aggression and had been persistently silent on the important issue. As a result, farmers are not getting sufficient water for irrigation and the area under cultivation has also been reduced considerably. It is tragic, he said, that whereas India is planning to turn the country into a desert, the Pakistani rulers are keen to promote trade with it and import potatoes and onions. He said Indian farmers were well off because their government was providing them with electricity at nominal rates, the farm to market roads were in good condition and the Indian farmer was not exploited at any stage.