ISLAMABAD, March 1: Various NGOs activists under the banner of Citizens Peace Committee here on Friday staged a demonstration demanding registration of murder case against a serving army official for killing a peasant.

The activists, who were carrying placards inscribed with slogans demanding arrest and trial of the army official, continued the protest for the 45 minutes.

“Who is the real terrorist? Poor landless tenant Bashir of Okara or his murderer Colonel Muhammad Ali?” read the slogan on one poster in English. Similar other posters in Urdu also demanded rights for tenants and withdrawal of false cases registered against the peasants demanding their right to land under the Anti-Terrorism Act by the government.

Asim Akhtar of Sustainable Development Policy Institute and organizer of the All Pakistan Alliance for Kutcha Abadis told this scribe that in the last few weeks alone, hundreds of anti-terrorism cases have been filed against tenants in the Punjab and the NWFP, all of whom were rallying around for their basic right to the land they tilled.

According to the Citizen’s Peace Committee, one tenant, Bashir was killed in Okara by a local military official who still remained at large.

A press statement by CPC said Kutcha Abadi dwellers fighting for their right to shelter were harassed and one activist was charged under the infamous blasphemy law which usually condemned victims to death.

“All of this is happening while the military government asserts its commitment to democracy, tolerance, peace and the rights of the poor,” the statement said.

CPC further said the government had markedly increased its use of force to combat dissenting voices and those groups fighting for their basic rights.

The CPC urged a serious rethink about the “anti-terrorist” paradigm that has rapidly taken shape over the past few months which caused great concern to those committed to the ideals of peace, justice and democracy.