Chickpea farmers came out on streets to protest in Mahni area of Mankera Tehsil in the district of Bhakkar on Saturday.
According to media reports, the farmers spoke up for the damage caused to their crops allegedly by the members of the Qatari royal family hunting bustards.
The protesters gathered in Mahni and started marching towards the camps of hunters, but the police stopped them. They further resisted the police order to disperse peacefully, to which they were like chickpeas are the only crops they produce throughout the year.
After that, the police baton-charged the protesters when they tried to continue their march towards the camps.
The demonstrators shouted slogans against the government and the hunters.
Later on, Mankera’s Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Mustafa reached the spot to negotiate with the protestors and said that a delegation of protesters would meet the royal hunters to find a possible solution to the problem.
“The UAE hunters caused less damage to our crops and compensated the affected farmers handsomely whereas the Qataris pay a nominal compensation to only some of the farmers,” he said.
He even highlighted the issue from last year when Qatari hunters announced that a hospital and a school would be built in the area which was followed by a protest against them and that no initiative had been taken so far in this regard.
District Police Officer Khalid Masood claimed the damage inflicted on the crop was not as grave as made out to be. He also said that the Arab hunters had initiated various development projects in the area.
