ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has expressed concern at the atrocities meted out to the tenants of military farms and asked the government to give them ownership rights.

In a statement issued here by the PPP media centre on Sunday, Ms Bhutto said: “I am deeply saddened to hear the atrocities meted out to the poor tenant farmers and urge the army high command to urgently intervene and recognise the changing ground realities with a view to preventing a clash with the poor people of Punjab on the military farm issue.”

The provincial governments own army land. However, after Gen Zia began the process of corrupting the professionalism of the army through patronage and greed and some of the army generals tried to take over control of the land leased to the army by the provinces. In this connection, management changes were made in the Defence Ministry to give army the control of the cantonment land and the farm lands which were previously under the control of the civil government.

Most of the tenant farmers on military lands are settled in Okara, Khanewal, and Sargodha.

Ms Bhutto said the PPP was trying to give ownership rights to the tenants on the state land for more than a decade but the army leadership had resisted the move, as it wanted to hold on to these lands.

“I am shocked and appalled to learn from press reports that dozens of women have been raped, hundreds of protestors arrested, over 1,000 criminal cases registered and five persons have lost their lives in clashes with the authorities,” Ms Bhutto said.

The largest military farm of 17,000 acres is in Okara. According to reports, in June 2000, the Okara military dairy farm high-ups approached the 150,000 tenants tilling the land, demanding to sign contracts altering their tenancy arrangements. This was resisted by the tenants and, as a result, repression was unleashed against them, the statement said.

In the Khanewal military farm, phone, electricity and water connections were cut for extended periods of time. The lack of water destroyed the latest cotton crop. Smaller farm tenants in Kala Shah Kaku and Multan had also been facing such harassment which also included police actions, the statement added.

Ms Bhutto also quoted a statement of Awami Mahaz Party chairman Anwar Dogar in which he had accused the government functionaries of subjecting women to sexual abuse. “It has now almost become an established ritual and farm owners and officials even invite their friends to join their ugly abuse of the poor farm women,” Ms Bhutto quoted Mr Dogar as saying.

She said the Punjab Seed Corporation’s Managing-director had stopped canal water to these lands, causing damage to tenants’ crops. The tenants were given relief by the Lahore High Court (Multan bench), but the court orders had been flouted.

She said a senior official of the Rangers was leading the persecution of tenants in Khanewal. Gen Mehdi called the leaders of the tenants at Rangers headquarters telling them to put an end to their movement or, “he will kill all of them after dragging them to the Indian border.”