Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Tehreek provincial coordinator Fayyaz Khan said that inflation had badly affected landless farmers and industrial workers but the government was unable to provide any relief to them.

Flanked by a group of farmers and members of the Tehreek, he said that poor had no other option but to raise their voice by holding protests and setting up hunger strike camps across the country.

Fayyaz Khan said that government should immediately refuse to accept all capitalist, feudal and imperialist policies and the conditions of International Monetary Fund, otherwise the issues would worsen with passing of time and the rulers would be unable to control the situation.

He said that instead of imposing taxes on poor, the government should impose an agricultural tax on landlords and the people owning more than 150 acres of land. He added that the government should also impose tax on real estate and include farmers and labourers in decision-making so that the country could be steered out of the crises and to put on the path of development.

Fayyaz Khan said that owing to flawed policies of the government, people were stuck in the quagmire of poverty, unemployment and inflation. He said that farmers had been forced to abandon farming as a result of IMF’s conditions. He said that energy crisis in the country was also result of the IMF conditions.

He said that the skyrocketing prices of food and other commodities had clearly pushed the working class of the country to the brink of destruction, resulting in an exodus of the rural population to cities.

He demanded of the government to take on board farmers and labourers about the decision-making process and policies to steer the country out of the economic crisis at the earliest.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774071/govt-asked-to-impose-taxes-on-landlords-instead-of-peasants

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday, PKMT secretary Wali Haider highlighted unending misery of peasants and landless farm workers and said today farmers were being compelled to abandon their land, factories were shutting down, and a staggering number of workers were losing their livelihoods.

“Under the oppressive working conditions, women farmers and workers are enduring economic hardship, hunger, poverty and social exploitation. The skyrocketing prices of food and commodities, especially the soaring electricity bills, have pushed Pakistan’s working population to the brink, forcing rural communities to migrate to urban centres and abroad, often resorting to illegal means, even at the risk of imprisonment or loss of life,” he said.

The crisis had spawned grave social issues and deteriorated law and order in the country, he added.

He informed the audience that farmers had held protests today (Sept 4) in different parts of the country including Shikarpur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Haripur, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Sahiwal and Rajanpur, against the ongoing crippling inflation.

Dr Azra Talat Sayeed of Roots for Equity said the government was responsible for the “intense economic debacle” gripping the nation.

“The PKMT represents the interests of small and landless peasants and workers who vehemently reject the policies of global capitalist and imperialist system. We stand united against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and their agreements, which have plunged workers, the small and landless farmers into depths of hunger, poverty, unemployment and ever sharpening inflation.”

The speakers regretted that while the IMF-driven conditionalities had led to intense misery in the lives of a vast majority of Pakistanis, the country’s elite class continued to burden the national exchequer with free electricity, oil, gas, and illicit expenditures in the name of state benefits.

The gravity of the situation, they said, demanded an immediate shift towards pro-people policies.

“We categorically reject the government’s rising utility rates in response to the current economic crisis, Rather than imposing additional burden on the people, we demand the government implement an agricultural tax on landlords owning more than 50 acres of land, especially the minority feudal elite, as well as enforce taxes on real estate,” said Mr Haider.

He also demanded just and equitable land distribution as a way of increasing self-sufficiency and government support to local manufacturers.

Allah Dino of PKMT said the grave situation was forcing the poor peasants to seek loans from microfinance schemes at high interest rates that they could not pay back. Consequently, they faced abuse and threats from lenders, he said.

“The government should extend subsidies to agriculture and agricultural inputs, especially electricity, petrol, and essential products in order to bring relief to the working class. Besides, steps are needed to create decent employment opportunities,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774089/govt-urged-to-impose-agriculture-tax-on-big-landlords