Kissan Ittehad delegation unable to meet PM

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Kissan Ittehad, who have been protesting for six consecutive days, was unable to hold talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Hussain Batth said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah informed them that their demands will be fulfilled tomorrow morning and there was no need to hold any talks.

“We have spent so many nights here and will spend one more. We will wait till tomorrow to see if their demands have been fulfilled,” he said, adding the minister told them the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance are working to solve their problems.

He said they were offered to hold a brief meeting with the prime minister but instead, they desired to have detailed talks after checking the premier’s schedule tomorrow.

Thousands of farmers are holding a massive protest in the federal capital and have threatened a nationwide shutdown call if their demands are not fulfilled by the deadline on Oct 3.

A day earlier, Kissan Ittehad head Khalid Hussain Batth expressed hope that the government will issue a notification after accepting the farmers’ demands, or else they will shut down the country. He said millions of farmers will march to Islamabad with him if the protest call is given.

A deadlock still persists between the government and farmers the second round of talks remained inconclusive. The farmers have warned from protesting the Red Zone area of Islamabad after they warned to shift towards D-Chowk if their demands were not fulfilled.

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

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier termed the farmers’ protest without any justification. He said the government is serious over fulfilling the legitimate demands of the farmers and has already deferred the payments of tubewell bills.

He warned that protests are not permissible in Red Zone by farmers or any other group or party and action will be taken against the violators.

The farmers are demanding the restoration of the previous tubewell electricity tariff of Rs5.3 per unit and abolishing all taxes on fertilizers.

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