LAHORE, Aug 25: The Anjuman Mazareen, Punjab, and the Labour Party Pakistan have urged peasants, especially tenants, to observe Monday as a protest day against the murder of five tenants at the hands of Rangers on Okara military farms on Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, Anjuman senior vice-president Dr Christopher John and LPP secretary-general Farooq Tariq appealed to traders in Okara district to keep their shutters down on Monday to protest, what they said, state terrorism.

Pledging to continue their ‘death or ownership’ movement, they said bullets could not deter the tenants from struggling to get their rights.

Denying the Rangers authorities claims that tenants had agreed to become lease holders, they said if the claims were true, why the unarmed tenants were being fired upon. They said the tenants would never accept the package given by the Rangers as it was “anti-peasants.”

Announcing that they would not hold parleys with the Rangers, they said talks could only be held after the withdrawal of para-military troops from Okara and Renala military farms.

They also denied the Rangers’ claims that the tenants had tried to stop a train and that they had resorted to firing on state officials.

Condemning the arrest of Anjuman chairman Anwar Javed Dogar, they feared that he might be killed in a staged encounter. They demanded that Mr Dogar be presented before a court of law on Monday and all the arrested tenants be released.

They also demanded that the officials responsible for the killing of five tenants be booked on murder charges.

They also reminded Gen Pervez Musharraf and Punjab governor Khalid Maqbool that they had promised tenants granting of ownership rights during the referendum campaign. —Staff Reporter