LAHORE, April 3: The Rangers and police “illegally” picked up two leaders and two workers of the Anjuman-i-Mazareen Punjab here on Wednesday, claimed Farooq Tariq of the Pakistan Labour Party at a press conference here on Thursday.

The arrested Anjuman leaders, chairman Younas Iqbal and secretary-general Christopher John, and workers Sajid Baloch and Fahim Ahmad were said to be on their way to a meeting with Mr Tariq, when law-enforcement agents intercepted their car (LXZ 3505) and took them away.

The Labour Party has filed a petition for habeas corpus with the High Court in this regard.

Mr Tariq, flanked by Shah Taj of the Joint Action Committee, Tehseen Ahmad of South Asia Partnership (SAP) and some AMP leaders, told journalists that since the wheat-ripening period was fast approaching, the Rangers had started terrorising the tenants.

The AMP planned to hold a convention on the Okara military farms on April 7, which was to be participated in by ARD leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, Naheed Khan of the PPP and Saad Rafiq of the PML-N. The law-enforcement agents might have kidnapped the AMP leadership for pressurising it into abandoning the plan, he said, adding that the convention would be held come what may.

Mr Tehseen was of the view that the agencies had become dangerously uncivilised following the induction of the so-called civilian government. He added: “The rulers must allow people to decide their future, because the decisions of the so-called leadership have brought only misfortune and impoverishment to the country.”

Ms Taj claimed that the country belonged to agencies and the Army. It was time for the civil society organizations to put a stop to the trend before it gets too late. Some hands in the government have reportedly decided to make representatives of the civil society fall into line and they may apply further pressure in near future, she added.

Aqila Naz of the AMP said that the government would not be able to break their resolve, even if it arrested the entire membership of the AMP. She said that a protest movement would be launched in Okara and Khanewal from Friday.

A weeping Munawer Bibi offered to court arrest saying that if “our sons have to be treated like this, mothers have no right to be out of jail”. She added: “Put us behind bars to reduce our guilt and sense of helplessness in the face of state oppression.”

Our Correspondent in Multan adds: Families of the four activists are concerned about their safety.

Talking to newsmen here on Thursday, Mrs Christopher John said her husband had been receiving threats from the Rangers prior to his ‘kidnapping’.

In a press statement, Khanewal AMP president Mehr Ghulam Abbas demanded release of the tenants’ leaders within 24 hours, or the AMP would launch a province-wide protest campaign. “Ours is a peaceful movement aimed at getting ownership of land that we have been cultivating as tenants for nearly a century,” he added.

The Justice and Peace Commission has also condemned the ‘kidnapping’ of AMP leaders and termed it a “cowardly” attempt to foil the Okara convention.

In a statement, JPC chairperson Sister Morris Nawab condemned the Rangers’ excesses against poor tenants on the state farms. She urged the government to set up a commission to conduct an impartial inquiry into the Rangers’ atrocities.

She assured the tenants of complete JPC support. Demanding immediate release of the ‘kidnapped’ AMP leaders, she urged Chief Minister Pervez Elahi to ensure their safety.