TOBA TEK SINGH, June 29: National Workers Party (NWP) president Abid Hasan Manto has said that instead of eradicating feudalism from the country, the rulers are creating military feudalism by snatching land from tenants in Okara and other areas of the country.

He was speaking at a conference of NWP workers from Toba Tek Singh, Jhang and Faisalabad districts, here on Sunday.

He said the Punjab revenue board had clearly stated that the Okara land which was given on lease to the army by the British government in 1930 now belonged to it, but the military bureaucracy was not willing to give up the precious land, which was made cultivable by tenants after decades of hard work.

He condemned the killing of more than a dozen tenants by the Rangers and demanded a judicial probe into it at the high court level.

Criticizing the recent statement of President Gen Pervaiz Musharraf that he was thinking about sending the Pakistan Army to Iraq, Mr Manto said the nation would never allow him to send the army to Iraq to play the ugly role of protecting the interests of US-led forces. It was a pity that the opposition was not taking a firm stand on this issue and was struggling against just the LFO, he said.

He also criticized PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim and MMA leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman who were now opposing the LFO but had once been ready to become prime minister under it.

Talking on the need for unity among left-wing parties, Mr Manto said that the NWP was formed after the merger of National Party, Pakistan Socialist Party and Awami Jamhoori Party. However, he added, serious efforts should once again be made to create a single platform for the left-wing in the next general election.

Punjab NWP president Chaudhry Fateh Mohammad said in his speech on the occasion that the flat Abiana rate was not acceptable to farmers of Toba Tek Singh district, who got water supply at the rate of 2.6 cusecs per 1000 acres while some other districts got it at the rate of five to seven cusecs per 1000 acres.

PPP’s former MPA Mian Mohammad Rafiq condemned in his speech the Rs18 billion loan write-offs for the Chaudhry Shujaat family and other politicians and bureaucrats.

Syed Qurban Shah of Jhang, Asif Ijaz of Faisalabad, minority leader Bonnie Mendes, Azam Khan, Punjab NWP secretary Malik Aslam, Mushtaq Kashfi and Ali Mohammad also spoke on the occasion.

Through various resolutions, the conference demanded decrease in electricity and gas tariffs and prices of petroleum products.