Pakistan Farmer Protest: There is going to be a big peasant movement in India’s neighboring country Pakistan. According to Dawn’s report, the farmer organizations of the country have announced a nationwide protest against corporate farming from 13 April. The decision was announced after a joint meeting of Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee, Anjuman Mazarin Punjab, Hari Zedzehad Committee, Cropyer Foundation and other organizations. Protest rallies will be held in different towns and public fields including southern Punjab. Let us know that there has been a farmer agitation in India, due to which there was a conflict between the government and the agitators for a long time.

Farmers in Pakistan believe that corporate farming may endanger their rights on traditional land. He can be deprived of the reach of agricultural resources. Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) is a federal government scheme, which aims to convert barren land into fertile fields. Under this, modern agricultural technology, AI-operated monitoring, advance seeds and better irrigation systems will be used.

According to the government, its aim is to make food security, increase in agricultural production, and environmental improvements. However, the farmers of Pakistan are afraid that in the name of this modernization they may have to lose their ancestral lands and there may be a monopoly of corporates on the ground. Explain that the upcoming peasant movement in Pakistan is not only against corporate farming, but also for the demand for comprehensive land and economic rights.

What is farmers demand?
There have been many demands of people under the nationwide peasant movement in Pakistan since April 13, which is as follows:

• Corporate farming scheme can be canceled.
• Construction of controversial canals in southern Punjab should be stopped.
• All public agricultural land should be distributed among the farmers.
• Notices sent to tenants should be withdrawn for arrears.
• The government procurement rate of wheat should be fixed at 4,000 pkr/40 kg in the current harvesting season.

In these demands, the question of not only economic justice but also land ownership is hidden, which challenges decades -old social structures.

Why are the fears of small farmers increasing?
Small farmers and workers have expressed many deep concerns about the dangers associated with corporate farming models. They are afraid that they should not be removed from the lands of their ancestors. They fear that corporates will be monopolized on resources like seeds, water and machinery. The alliances of big companies and government may have to face difficulty in getting legal help to small farmers.