MULTAN, June 6: Five PML-N and a PPP women activists, who were arrested in Lahore and jailed in Multan for protesting against LFO and torture of opposition members of the Punjab assembly, were released on Friday evening.

The PML-N activists are Ayesha Javed, Tahira Tabbasum, Gulzar Butt, Majida Zaidi and Shahnaz Bano Mughal while the PPP activist is Zahida Iftikhar.

Dozens of people, including workers and leaders of both the parties, welcomed the released women at the main gate of the women jail.

Prominent among them were MPA Babu Nafees Ansari, Rana Noorul Hassan, former MNA Sheikh Tahir Rasheed, Saeed Chauhan, Zaman Shah, Imran Liaquat, MNA Maimoona Hashmi, Shaheen Shafiq, Sultana Shaheen and Gulzar Begum.

The released women were taken to the residence of MNA Mehmoodul Hassan where they vowed to continue their struggle for democracy in the country.

Dialogue: The stand-off between tenants and the management of Okara Military Farms can only be resolved through talks and not through the barrel of gun.

This was stated by Anjuman Mazareen Punjab President Liaquat Ali and secretary-general Shugufta Zafar in a joint statement issued here on Friday.

They once again accused the rangers authorities for aggravating the situation at the military farms.

The AMP slogan “ownership or death” was a mission which they said the tenants would accomplish at any cost.

They said the tenants would not accept the status of lessees despite all the ‘coercive’ tactics of the rangers. They contradicted the claims of rangers authorities that the farm management had collected Rs40 million as lease money from the tenants.

Even the RV&FC Director General Maj-Gen Mehmood in his press conference in Islamabad a few days ago had put the collection of lease money from Okara farms as Rs5.7 million, the AMP leaders said.

They alleged that on the other hand the rangers force had consumed resources worth Rs60 million since their deployment to ‘crush the tenants’ movement. They claimed that this amount was deposited by those tenants who were arrested by the rangers and later they secured release after paying the ‘ransom’.

The government, they suggested, should take some confidence building measures to enter into meaningful dialogue with the tenants to resolve the crisis.

They also demanded withdrawal of what they said fabricated cases against the military farm tenants and their leadership.

Two killed: Two boys were killed while as many sustained injuries when a tractor they were riding on overturned after going out of control due to high speed here on Friday.

Abbas (15) took his younger brothers Bilal (10), Younas (5) and cousin Tariq (12) on a tractor ride reportedly after getting permission from his father Rab Nawaz to wash the tractor from a nearby canal in Pirwali area on Multan-Bahawalpur Road.

On the dirt tract alongside the canal bank, Abbas started driving the tractor rashly. He, however, lost control over the steering while passing over a pit as a result of which it overturned. Abbas died instantly while Younas succumbed to his injuries at Nishter Hospital. The condition of Tariq and Bilal was stated to be stable at hospital.