They alleged that on Wednesday night, the Punjab Police raided homes of Jamaat-e-Islami and Farmers Board leaders       Farmers holding a protest against the government’s agriculture policies in this undated photo.— White Star/file 

LAHORE: Despite arrests, raids and police surveillance, thousands of workers of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan and Farmers Board, under the leadership of Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, participated in a protest against the wheat crisis on Thursday.

Talking to the media during the protest, Farmers Board Pakistan President Sardar Zafar Hussain and Secretary General Dr Abdul Jabbar Khan regretted that the ruling elite earlier made billions by importing wheat and now they would loot farmers by purchasing wheat on cheaper rates from them. They warned that if the agricultural economy would collapse, the national economy would also collapse. They said those who were creating the wheat crisis were economic terrorists. They said arrests could not stop their peaceful movement.

They alleged that on Wednesday night, the Punjab Police raided homes of Jamaat-e-Islami and Farmers Board leaders, arrested hundreds of them and harassed others. The ruling class, in order to hide their black deeds, was resorting to state terrorism by arresting farmers to stop their peaceful movement but they should remember that farmers would get their rights under the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan’s leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, they warned. They said arrests and police surveillance could not stop their movement.

Central Secretary Information of Farmers Board Pakistan Haji Muhammad Ramazan said the arrested farmers and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and workers should be released immediately. The government should refrain from economically killing farmers, he added.

JI Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman criticised the Punjab government’s farmer package and said the provincial rulers were using double standards. He said Punjab chief minister refused to procure wheat from farmers, citing lack of funds. He voiced concern that the proposed Rs400 billion package would fall prey to corruption, asserting that the JI would not allow such misuse of funds.

Speaking at the Kissan March outside the Punjab CM House on Thursday, he announced the JI would collect data of farmers’ losses and get the money back from rulers. He decried the current government’s legitimacy, alleging electoral fraud and urged the chief justice of Pakistan to address the issue of election rigging.

About Dubai Leaks scandal, Naeemur Rehman accused the elite of amassing wealth abroad while governing Pakistan, calling for transparency regarding their foreign assets. He affirmed JI’s solidarity with the people and its commitment to peaceful resistance, announcing that the JI Majlis-e-Shura would meet on May 25 to devise a strategy for mass mobilisation.

He reiterated the call for a thorough investigation into the billion-dollar wheat import scandal during the caretaker government’s tenure, criticising successive governments, including the current one, for aligning their policies with the IMF directives.

A large number of farmers, under the banner of JI and JI Kissan, held a march from Masjid-e-Shuhada to the CM House 7-Club to press for their demands. JI leaders including Liaquat Baloch, Amirul Azim and others participated in the march.

Correspondent adds from Hafizabad: Police raided houses of various farmer leaders and Jamaat-e-Islami office-bearers here on Wednesday night to thwart a planned sit-in at the Chief Minister’s House in Lahore on Thursday.

According to sources, the police arrested Kissan Board Pakistan Markazi Vice President Amanullah Chattha, JI District Ameer Malik Shaukat Hayat Phularwan, Naib Ameer Muhammad Qasim Tarar and Finance Secretary Rai Hafeez.

The JI and Kissan Board had announced a sit-in in front of the CM House Thursday.