KARACHI, July 29: Various organizations, in a joint statement, have condemned the alleged atrocities by law-enforcement agencies against cultivators of Okara military farms, and demanded a high-level inquiry into the affair.

In the statement, issued by Labour Party Pakistan, National Trade Union Federation, Progressive Youth Front and Labour Education Foundation, they have stressed that the inquiry be conducted by an independent commission under the supervision of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The organizations have demanded that the farmers be granted ownership of the lands they have been cultivating for generations. They also demanded release of all the farmers arrested on 'fabricated' charges. They urged the authorities to take stern action against the officials who had, according to them, subjected the farmers to atrocities.