Swabi, Aug. 10 -- Tobacco growers, along with political and social organisations and residents, held a large protest outside the Swabi Press Club over the purchase of tobacco at rates as low as PKR 350 per kilogram, despite the Pakistan Tobacco Board having fixed the official rate at PKR 750 per kg.

According to a report by The Express Tribune, local tobacco farmer and former ANP district general secretary Haji Tameez Khan burnt 500 kilograms of tobacco bundles outside the Press Club during the protest.

"I have not burnt tobacco today; I have burnt the blood of my children, their needs and the necessities of my household," Haji Tameez Khan said. He said tobacco growers had already incurred substantial losses and gone into debt last year...