MULTAN, Jan 20: Five activists of Anjuman Mazareen Punjab were granted bail by a local court in Okara on Monday in a dacoity case.

Michael Barkat, Master Muhammad Sharif, Daud, Faqir Muhammad and Rasheed Qaiser of Chak 10/4L of Okara military farms were charged in a dacoity case a year before. The AMP leadership was of the view that they were being victimized by the authorities for demanding ownership rights against the lands under their tenancy for nearly a century.

Michael and Master Khushi were reportedly released on same day the court granted their bails while the remaining three AMP activists could not come out of prison due to incomplete judicial documents.

The released were accorded a heroic reception in their village where tenants of all other villages of the military farm were also present.

Addressing the gathering, AMP leaders termed the release of Anjuman activists a “victory of their rightful cause”.

Meanwhile, tenants in Chak 4/4L reportedly apprehended some of their fellow tenants acting as informer of the farm management and warned them against their activities.

The session to admonish the “management agents” continued for some when a contingent of rangers rushed to the spot and rescued the men.

On the other hand, tenants’ families in Chak 87/10-R in Peerowal farms of the Punjab Seed Corporation in Khanewal district have reportedly taken over the possession of a tubewell meant to irrigate lands in the village.

The PSC farm management had stopped supplying water to the lands under cultivation of the tenants last year after latter’s refusal to share the produce with the corporation.

It may be added that tenants of some 21 state-managed agriculture and livestock farms in the Punjab had launched a struggle for ownership rights over the lands of their tenancies and under the banner of AMP and people’s rights movement. The military farms of Okara and PSC farms in Peerowal are among the state-owned farms where the movement has taken root in the province.