SARGODHA, Aug 18: Around 1,000 tenants staged a rally on Sunday in Kalra State of Shahpur tehsil, Sargodha district, where a new unit of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab was unveiled.

The unit comprises tenants from the livestock farm spread over 8,000 acres in Kalra State, some 40 kms from here, and the military farm in Sargodha.

The rally was addressed by a number of local influential people, including PPP MNA candidate Anwar Piracha, Italian journalist Paola Babos, Labour Party secretary-general Farooq Tariq and central leaders of the MP, Younis Iqbal, Christopher John and Anwar Javed Dogar.

People’s Rights Movement (PRM) representatives Aasim Sajjad Akhtar and Zahoor Khan were the chief guests.

The speakers asked the government to end the siege of Okara and Renala Khurd military farms that had been undertaken a few days ago.

They alleged that Rangers were infiltrating in a number of villages and spreading fear through threats of arrest. They had also severed phone and water connections in Renala and were threatening more violent actions if tenants did not sign contracts immediately.

The rally unanimously condemned the ‘repression’ and vowed to take to the streets in protest if the ‘harassment’ was not stopped.

AMP local president Mushtaq Ahmed said the present government had promised to allot the land to tenants but instead it was given to the Livestock department.

He said that tenants of Kalra State farm were committed to the slogan of ‘malki ya maut’ (ownership rights or death) as they had no other option to secure their rights.

Speakers said the movement for ownership rights would be reinforced by the involvement of Sargodha tenants who numbered almost 60,000.

It was also agreed that a large monitoring mission would be taken to Okara and Renala on Aug 20 to pressurize the local authorities and Rangers to retreat from their confrontational position.

The rally concluded with a demand that ownership rights be conferred upon all tenants across the Punjab immediately.