SAHIWAL: Hundreds of political and rights activists held separate demonstrations at Chak 12/11-L, tehsil Chichawatni and Muhammadnagar Farm (163/EB) in tehsil Arifwala to demand end to the inequalities perpetuated by the elite in the country.

The participants in the protests, organised by the Fight against Inequalities (FAI), called for a red line to be drawn against the rule of billionaires ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering at Devos.

The participants passed resolutions demanding land ownership rights for landless families of the Muhammadnagar Farm and the provision of civic services to all villages of Punjab. They were carrying banners, placards and flexes elaborating their demands.

Muhammad Iklaq of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab said landless farm workers of Muhammadnagar must be given land ownership rights.

Farooq Tariq of the FAI, Pakistani chapter, spoke to Dawn over the phone from Muhammadnagar Farm demonstration, saying that their gathering was part of a global movement spearheading a powerful international mobilization against the surging power and wealth of billionaires. He highlighted that in Pakistan, power and money were concentrated in the hands of a few, subsidised by the middle and working classes.

Tariq emphasized that the world’s richest one percent wielded unaccountable power, influencing politics, hoarding wealth and undermining democracy while millions were struggling to meet their basic needs, dying in conflicts or losing their homes to climate disasters.

In Arifwala and Sahiwal, participants carried placards with slogans such as ‘Tax the Super Rich’, ‘Bring Down Inflation in Pakistan’ and ‘ownership rights for landless agriculture labourers’. Jabbar Gujar, a rights activist from Pind Sudhar, Sahiwal, highlighted that unemployment and increasing poverty were major problems in Pakistan.

He criticised the elite for taking Rs1,500bn in subsidies from state resources, calling it unjust. He argued that instead of taking loans, the Pakistani elite should build production centres in both the agricultural and industrial sectors. Farooq Tariq noted the coincidence of billionaire President Donald Trump’s participation in the WEF inauguration in Davos, raising critical questions about democracy, inequality and the unchecked influence of the super rich.

He asserted that no authority on earth could take land ownership rights from the landless people and pledged support for struggle of agricultural families at Muhammadnagar Farms. He cited a World Bank report indicating that 40pc of Pakistan’s population had fallen below the poverty line, adding approximately 2.6m people to the last year’s poverty figures. He noted that Pakistan was spending 93pc of its income on debt payments, leaving little for development, including human development.

Dawn learned from sources that the ‘Red Line to the Billionaires’ protests took place among 19 cities across Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025