The farming community has threatened to stage a nationwide “Million March” to Rawalpindi starting September 25, demanding the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz over what they describe as a deepening crisis in the agriculture sector.
Leaders of the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) announced the planned protest on Tuesday, accusing the provincial government of systematically worsening conditions for growers across Punjab. The group stressed that its grievance is not political in nature and is directed specifically at the chief minister, not the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N).
“We have no political dispute with the PML-N,” PKI leaders said. “Our demand is singular: Maryam Nawaz must resign.”
At the heart of the farmers’ anger is the Punjab government’s refusal to procure the local wheat crop, a decision PKI claims inflicted losses of approximately Rs. 2.2 trillion on growers. Compounding the damage, the group pointed to the federal government’s decision to import 3.5 million tonnes of wheat even as the domestic harvest sat ready, a move farmers say gutted local prices.
The distress extends well beyond wheat. PKI estimates that potato farmers have absorbed losses of roughly Rs. 250,000 per acre, while cotton yields have collapsed from 60 maunds to just 12 maunds per acre. Farmers are also grappling with soaring input costs: a bag of DAP fertilizer that sold for Rs. 2,400 in 2016 now costs Rs. 16,600, urea has jumped from Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 4,600, and electricity for agricultural tube wells has surged from Rs. 5 to Rs. 40 per unit.
PKI Chairman Khalid Hussain Batth also took aim at the government’s reported wheat production figures, disputing the Punjab government’s claim of 21.9 million tonnes and asserting that actual output was no higher than 15 million tonnes. He further accused government departments of corruption in the distribution of fertilizer subsidies.
The group broadened its criticism to include what it called the provincial government’s treatment of agricultural projects as contracts benefiting a select few, and questioned the handling of unpaid sugarcane dues. Batth drew a sharp contrast between the government’s actions against small farmers and what he described as its failure to hold major industrial players to account.
PKI President Mian Umair warned that the farming community’s simmering discontent could carry political consequences in rural constituencies. He said the group had lost confidence in the civilian leadership and would take its demands directly to the military leadership in Rawalpindi if its concerns went unaddressed.
With September 25 now set as the launch date, the prospect of a major confrontation between the farming community and the Punjab government looms unless a settlement is reached in the coming weeks.
