LAHORE: The flour and wheat mafia is holding the country hostage and the people who had been in the past governments are still in power, laments Jamaat-i-Islami emir Senator Sirajul Haq.

He was talking to the media after inaugurating wheat harvesting at a village on city suburbs on Tuesday.

Haq said it was the government’s responsibility to procure every grain of wheat from the growers, adding that the wheat crop had been heavily damaged by the rains and hailstorms.

He demanded the government to announce a relief package for the small farmers, while the rice growers should also be provided free seed, fertilisers and pesticides. Besides, they should be granted interest-free loans for the purchase of farm machinery, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2020