OKARA, April 17 The All Punjab Kissan Convention (APKC) was held on Friday in connection with the International Farmers Day in memory of the landless tenants of Brazil under the banner of Anjuman Mozareen Punjab (AMP).

A large number of men and women tenants from Punjab, Sind and representatives of international farmers' NGOs attended the convention at village 4/4-L. AMP secretary-general Mehr Abdus Sattar chaired the convention.

Speakers including, Chaudhry Liaquat Ali, Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar, Khushi Muhammad Dola, Noor Nabi, Malik Saleem Jhakhar, Akbar Baloch, Sophia and Saffron from Greece, called upon the provincial and federal governments to fulfill the promise made by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto of granting tenants the ownership rights of the land they had been cultivating for nearly a century.

They also demanded the withdrawal of false cases registered against the tenants, arrest of culprits involved in the murder of three tenants of the Kulyana estate, reinstatement of 32 employees of the Military Dairy Farm, abolition of the lease system of the government land, ensuring the purchase of agriculture produce, financial assistance for the heirs of tenants killed or injured and legal action against the Rangers personnel involved in the killing of innocent tenants.

Their further demands were the widening of approach roads from field to market and reduction in prices of fertilizers, seed, electricity and fuel.

The large number of tenants kept on raising slogans of “ownership or death.

The AMP secretary- general said the PPP and the PML-N had never raised the tenants' demands on any forum.

Participants of the APKC demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to grant ownership rights to tenants.

DPO Bilal Siddique Kamyan had taken special security measures on the occasion.

The tehsil municipal administration had arranged a fire-brigade vehicle and potable water in water-tankers.