ISLAMABAD, June 22: Pakistan People’s Party has condemned the highhandedness of army and rangers against the tenants of Okara military farms urging the international community to express their voice against it.

In a letter to the Commonwealth secretary-general, Don McKinnon, PPP MNA and coordinator of the party’s human rights cell, Fauzia Wahab said Okara district, known for its agriculture produce in Punjab, had become a site of an uphill struggle between the tenants and the army and its affiliated business interest, the Army Welfare Trust.

“The struggle between the two parties has claimed the life of as many as six tenants, while the count of those injured exceeds more than 200 including women and children since May 2001. The bone of contention is the status of 17,013 acres of land controlled by army and leased out to tenants for more than 90 years.”

She wrote, “While a three-way legal battle for the ascertainment of the ownership of the lands seems imminent between the tenants, the army and the Government of Punjab, armed skirmishes between the tenants and posted rangers at the lands have become a routine affair. The rangers have initiated as much as 650 FIRs with local police, while as many as 7,500 farmers have been charged with anti-state activities. The degree of harassment can be evaluated from the fact that relatives of the tenants living in the urban areas of the district have also been involved through arrests and cases being registered against them.”

“A visit to Okara military farms presents the look of a virtual martial law in place. It may be noted that in a similar case in Sargodha district in Punjab, where as much as 8,000 acres of land was under occupation by Punjab Livestock Department, the controlling authority, the Punjab Board of Revenue, has been ordered to vacate the land, while in Okara the same is not being followed due to involvement of the military.”