September 20, 2002	Friday	Rajab 12, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: Anjuman Mazarain Punjab (AMB) threatened that it would boycott the general elections if the government remained indifferent to the situation at Okara military farms.

The farm tenants, who have been demanding ownerships rights for the last one month, are facing the wrath of law-enforcement agencies and Rangers.

The senior vice-president of AMP, Dr Christopher Jhon, while speaking at a news conference, claimed that not even a single tenant would vote in the polls if the government didn’t fulfil their demand.

There are around 900,000 tenants living in 10 districts of the Punjab and ploughing about 70,000 acres, he said

“Is it possible for us to participate in the electioneering when thousands of paramilitary troops are busy in tormenting us because we are demanding ownership rights,” Dr John questioned.

He said, around 10 villages spreading over the Okara military farms had virtually been besieged by the Rangers, following a clash between the two parties recently.

He added that the nomination papers of Mehr Sultan, a candidate for provincial assembly, was cancelled due to his affiliation with the AMP and the government was trying to implicate him in fake cases.

He said the problem started when the farm operators arbitrarily changed the terms of tenancy to Pattadari system whereby the land was leased out to a tenant for one to three years against an agreed amount of money.

He said the Pattadarisystem was against the Tenancy Act, moreover the government was trying to implement this draconian law though the armed forces.

“We demand an immediate end to the ongoing harassment taking place at the Okara military farms and deputation of representatives of the Punjab government, the actual owner of the land, to arrange dialogue with the AMP.”

Dr Nayyer of Citizens Peace Committee said it was unprecedented to employ armed forces to resolve such issues.

He assured the CPC’s support to the rightful cause of the AMP.

Dr Zafar Mirza of Network demanded of the government to set up a judicial inquiry to probe the killings of tenants and resolve the issue under the Tenancy Act.

Meanwhile, the representatives of citizens, civil society groups, trade unions, and political parties in a joint statement have asked the government to protect the basic rights of the people, specially the tenants, workers and teachers.

They also asked the government to stop repression of teachers, students, fisherfolk, workers, kutcha abadi dwellers, and farmers, immediately.

They expressed solidarity with the Anjuman Mazarain Punjab (AMP), the representative organization of one million landless tenants, sharecroppers of the military farms of Okara and other and areas across the province. They condemned the high-handedness of the authorities against the AMP’s three-year struggle for ownership rights to 68,000 acres of land that tenants had been tilling for a century.

“Six tenants have died, many more have been injured, and hundreds have been charged under draconian anti-terrorism law”, they maintained.

They said restrictions had been imposed on the exit and entry of the 150,000 inhabitants of Okara military farms and they were facing arbitrary harassment aimed at forcing them to sign limited-year contracts that would revoke their tenancy status and leave them vulnerable to eviction.

The stand-off follows an incident on August 24, in which Rangers and police forces carried out an operation in Chak 4-4/L, in the aftermath of which, 20-year-old Sulemian Masih was killed, while in police custody.

Post-mortem has yet to be carried out, while the local authorities have incriminated AMP activists in the murder. Show-cause notices have been issued to relatives of tenants, warning them of dire consequences if the contracts are not signed. Tenants on other farms across the province, including maize farms in Sahiwal, have been issued eviction notices because they are unwilling to sign contracts.

Violence such as that in Okara has been witnessed before in Khanewal, where tenants remain under pressure to accede to the authorities’ demands.

They asked the government to end the harassment and depute relevant representatives of the Punjab government — the owner of the land — to immediately arrange for dialogue with the AMP. The use of force against tenants will only exacerbate their mistrust for the government.

At this very moment, police and Rangers forces in Okara continue to besiege villages, arrest residents at will, and intimidate tenants into signing contracts.

They recalled that President Musharraf had promised the tenants ownership rights to this very land. It is, therefore, essential that the government takes immediate steps to reduce the tension and resume dialogue.