Lahore— The Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, spoke out against the government’s farming policies in a speech at Charing Cross Mall Road in Lahore, calling the “Kissan Card” a “Debt Card.” When he spoke to a group of farmers, he talked about the problems that farmers are still having and said that the government wasn’t doing anything to help them.
It was brought up by Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman that farmers in Bahawalnagar have been protesting for weeks to get their rights. He spoke out against the recent arrests of activists in Lahore. These people were arrested and taken to police stations while they were trying to speak out for justice. “The same assembly that approved salary increases for its members a few months ago is now ignoring the plight of farmers,” he added.
The leader of Jamaat-e-Islami also said that the Punjab Assembly was not legitimate, calling it a result of “Form 47,” which refers to claims of election fraud. He told the government that they had to listen to what the farmers were saying and act right away to help them.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman talked about the problems farmers were having and said that they were lied to last year when the government set the wheat support price at Rs 3,900 per maund but later changed its mind. He said that this put farmers in debt and made it hard for them to make ends meet. Due to government measures, farmers have been pushed to the edge. “They are now too busy paying back loans to support their families,” he said.
A farmer named Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman asked the government to set fair prices for sugarcane and wheat, stop “black marketing,” and make sure that farmers got what they were owed. He didn’t like the “Kissan Card” idea because he thought it wouldn’t help farmers’ finances much. “They bring up the Kissan Card when we ask for rights for farmers.” He said, “This is not a solution; it’s a debit card.”
He also said that the government should buy things like wheat, cotton, and sugarcane straight from farms instead of going through brokers. “This is not just an issue of farmers’ rights; it’s a matter of food security for the entire nation,” he stated.
The farmers in the audience connected with the Jamaat-e-Islami leader’s message. They have been having a hard time financially because of rising costs of inputs, low crop prices, and not enough government help. Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman promised to keep fighting for the rights of farmers and asked the government to fix their problems right away.
As farming is still an important part of Pakistan’s economy, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman’s demands and those of the farming community show how quickly policy needs to be changed to protect farmers’ rights and keep the country’s food supply stable.
