This year, Punjab’s farmers have faced a significant setback. They worked hard to produce a bountiful wheat crop and were thrilled.
However, the joy of the Punjab’s farmers was short-lived due to policies made by those who do not favor them. Here is a timeline of how the farmers were misled:
- April 3: In a Punjab cabinet meeting chaired by Maryam Nawaz, the wheat support price was set at 3900 rupees.
- April 4: The government announced it would provide bags to 400,000 farmers.
- April 7: The Punjab government shortlisted 200,000 small farmers from the initial 400,000, stating that wheat would be bought from them at 3900 rupees per 40 kg.
- April 8: Farmers were told that a farmer-friendly government was established in Punjab.
- April 9: The government revealed that it had millions of tons of imported wheat and was already 350 billion rupees in debt.
- April 11: Maryam Aurangzeb stated bluntly that there were no funds to purchase wheat.
- April 17: Under pressure from the media and social media, Nawaz Sharif announced that the government would purchase wheat from farmers at any cost.
- April 19: The Prime Minister stated that the wheat procurement target was set between 1.4 million to 1.8 million tons.
- April 27: It was promised that wheat would be purchased from farmers owning up to 6 acres of land.
- May 1: On International Labor Day, the Punjab Food Minister announced there were neither funds nor storage capacity to buy wheat.
- May 7: The Punjab government declared it would not purchase even a single maund of wheat this year.
In this month-long saga, the farmers lost, while the middlemen and their government won. A scheme involving the sale of wheat bags allegedly earned between 700 to 1000 rupees per bag, with reports suggesting that one individual profited around 100 million rupees from this scheme.
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Meanwhile, the scandal involving imported wheat from Ukraine, worth hundreds of billions, was brushed under the rug. Additionally, properties worth 13 billion dollars in Dubai were discovered to belong to those serving the Pakistani nation, equivalent to about 350 billion rupees. The nation’s wealth is being looted, and those responsible have yet to be fully exposed.
Youm-e-Takbeer Holiday. Why?
On May 28, a holiday was declared to commemorate “Youm-e-Takbir.” Interestingly, this holiday hasn’t observed for the past 26 years. The US conducted its first nuclear test on July 16, 1945, Russia on August 29, 1949, the UK on October 3, 1952, France on February 13, 1960, China on October 16, 1964, and North Korea on October 9, 2006.
Even India, our adversary, conducted nuclear tests before us. Unfortunately, none of these nations declared holidays for their nuclear tests. Such holidays and deceptions only occur in corrupt societies where farmers are betrayed, and national wealth is plundered to create properties abroad. In such places, only oppression and injustice prevail.