LAHORE: A representative convention of over 50 farmers’ organisations from across the country demanded immediate revoking of the ordinance on two Sindh islands and halting the Ravi Riverfront project here on Wednesday.

Participants of the two-day gathering organised by the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee also pledged to join the protest by farmers to be affected by the Ravi project and also decided in principle to hold a demonstration for showing solidarity with the protesting Indian farmers.

They also demanded that the lands of farmers of Jaranwala, grabbed by the state in a police action a few months ago, should be returned and their losses compensated. The convention was also attended by various civil society and trade bodies.

A known advocate of organic farming, Asif Sharif, apprised the participants of alternative farming methods that could be used by small farmers to get better and low-cost yield from their lands. He said that the supply of seeds was an important issue and multinational companies wanted to make the farmers their vassals through their monopoly on seeds. However, the farmers did not need anyone to supply the seeds as their plants could give the healthy seeds needed for the next crop.

Sharif also said that the current system of irrigation had severely damaged the fertility of the land. He also termed the relentless use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides poison, a killer against the natural fertility of land and a conspiracy against the prosperity of ordinary farmers.

Mustafa Rashid, a leader of the farmers’ movement against the Ravi Riverfront scheme, called the project a threat to small farmers and the environment of Lahore, and vowed that the people of the villages there would never support it.

Fatima Majeed, vice chairperson of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Movement, apprised the audience of the problems faced by the poor fishermen and the environment created by the handing over of two islands of Sindh to the land developing “mafia”.

Jamila Begum of Dera Sehgal; Rai Fazal Rasool, a leader of Kissan Tehreek against the eviction of farmers from their ancestral lands in Jaranwala; and Mehr Abdul Sattar of Anjuman Mazareen Punjab also spoke at the gathering.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2021