Kissan Ittehad threatens countrywide shutdown, gives deadline

ISLAMABAD: Kissan Ittehad chairman Khalid Hussain Batth threatened to give a countrywide shutdown call and gave a deadline to the government to fulfil the farmers’ demands, ARY News reported on Sunday.

While talking to the media in Islamabad today, Khalid Hussain Batth expressed hope that the government will issue a notification after accepting the farmers’ demands.

He urged the government to issue a notification to fulfil the demands, otherwise, the protesting farmers would shut down the whole country. He added that millions of farmers will head towards Islamabad on his call.

The Kissan Ittehad’s sit-in entered the fifth day in Islamabad, whereas, the farmers gave a deadline to the government to fulfil their demands till Monday.

Deadlock persisted between the government and farmers as another round of talks remained inconclusive.

Kissan Ittehad protestors hinted at lodging sit-ins outside the parliament and Bani Gala if their demands are not fulfilled by Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments.

Yesterday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah termed the farmers’ protest without any justification.

A deadlock between the government and the protesting farmers continued as another round of talks ended without any result. “The farmers leaders were informed about the situation in a meeting,” interior minister said.

“The government is serious over legitimate demands of the farmers and has already accepted postponement of the payments of tube well bills,” he said. “A notification to this respect has already been issued, protest over the matter is unjustified,” he said.

“Protest is impermissible in Red Zone by farmers, any other group or party,” the minister said.

“The law will come into motion against those marching on the Red Zone,” the interior minister warned. “The Supreme Court (SC) has clearly ruled against any protest in the Red Zone,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the protest of farmers in Islamabad, who have gathered under the umbrella of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, has entered fourth day.

The farmers were demanding the restoration of the previous tubewell electricity tariff of Rs5.3 per unit and abolishing all taxes and adjustments.