ISLAMABAD, Oct 10: Anjuman Mazarain Punjab (AMP), the representative organization of one million tenants living on state land across Punjab, boycott the election process on Thursday.

An AMP delegation, comprising general-secretary Younis Iqbal, senior vice-president Dr Christopher John, and Khanewal zone president Aqeela Naz, met with the leaders of various political parties, including PML-N and PPP, on Thursday.

The two main parties pledged their support to the AMP and its struggle for 68,000 acres in 10 districts of Punjab.

The AMP representatives told the political leaders that tenants on Okara military farms and many other farms were being denied basic democratic and human rights that should be accorded to all citizens.

The tenants have no faith in the military government, its supposed commitment to the welfare of the people, or its claims that it wants to introduce genuine democracy. The blatant repression that has taken place in recent months, highlights the extent to which the government’s claims are hollow rhetoric.

At the same time, the AMP leaders alerted the political leaders to the fact that they would not prohibit the tenants from supporting candidates of their own choice and later holding them accountable to the promises they made. They urged the PPP and PML-N, in particular, to play a more active role in supporting their resistance against the excesses of police and Rangers.

The AMP representatives reiterated that they would renew their active resistance after elections. Any political party that was in the assemblies would have to prove its commitment to the tenants’ cause beyond the issuing of verbal promises and token statements.