Swabi farmer sets tobacco bales on fire to protest low price

SWABI: On Sunday, a farmer named Tamriaz Khan torched five bundles of fine quality Flue-Cured Virginia tobacco outside the Swabi Press Club, expressing his discontent over government policies that he claimed favored companies at the expense of growers. The farmer, hailing from Shahmansoor Village, stated that while the government had set the price of tobacco at Rs740 per kilogram, companies were purchasing it from him at a significantly lower rate of Rs350 per kilogram.

He accused both federal and provincial governments of collecting taxes without concern for protecting growers from exploitation. According to Tamriaz, the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) members were also aware of the growers' plight but failed to visit purchasing points in tobacco-growing districts. The Swabi action committee's spokesperson, Salim Khan, added that the federal excise duty of Rs390 had been imposed by the government, which he alleged was being collected in various ways by companies and cigarette manufacturers.

Khan questioned the presence of the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), federal and provincial governments, and the district administration, asking where they were in the face of these issues. He criticized the Federal Board of Revenue for installing cameras in small companies' warehouses for tax collection purposes, but lamented the lack of presence of Rangers and other measures once the growers crossed Attock into Punjab.