Pakistan: Bilawal launches 'tractor trolley march' against Imran Khan govt to support farmers

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday launched a 'tractor trolley march' against the Imran Khan government to support farmers who have been protesting over the alleged poor agricultural policies of PTI.

In a video message to farmers, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that in the last three years, "this selected government" had damaged the country's agricultural economy as much as it had damaged the entire economy, reported Dawn.

Agriculture, he said, was the backbone of the country's economy and extended his support to the country's farmers who have been protesting over the alleged poor agricultural policies of the government.

He alleged that farmers had not been getting suitable prices of their crops since Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took power in 2018, whereas the input cost had increased manifold, reported Dawn.

"Last season, our paddy crop was damaged due to lack of water. Now due to the urea fertiliser crisis, our wheat crop is getting damaged," he said.

"This is the call of the PPP. We are starting protests on January 21 from the Larkana division and the Sahiwal division. We will stand with our farmer brothers and protest with them. God willing, by Jan 24, the protest will spread across the country," he said, adding that the PPP would hold farmer marches and tractor marches in every division.

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, the PPP information secretary and MNA Shazia Marri said the farmers were facing serious problems like the unavailability of urea fertiliser and they had been protesting over the PTI government's "anti-farmer policies," reported Dawn.

She claimed that a bag of urea fertiliser was being sold for up to Rs 3,500 in the black market and the federal government was not providing any relief to farmers.

She said the PPP would hold rallies against the anti-farmer policies of the federal government. She said the PPP had raised this issue in the National Assembly, but the government's response was "very ridiculous".

In the first phase, the party has organised marches in Larkana division in Sindh and Okara city of Sahiwal division in Punjab. In the second phase, such marches would be expanded to other parts of the country from January 24, reported Dawn.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah will lead the protest in Larkana, whereas PPP Punjab president Raja Pervez Ashraf will lead the farmers' rally in Okara.

( With inputs from ANI )

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