MULATN, Sept 14: Activists of various political and trade union organizations staged a demonstration here on Sunday to protest against what they alleged highhandedness of the state institutions against growers and tenants in the country.
The demonstration was organized under the aegis of the Awami Ittehad, a local alliance comprising Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, Labour Party Pakistan, National Seraiki Party, Communist Party of Pakistan, Seraikistan Qaumi Inqalabi Party, Workers National Party, Pakistan Seraiki Party and Trade Unions Federation.
Expressing solidarity with tenants of Okara military farms, Peerowal farms of Punjab Seed Corporation in Khanewal, Hashat Nagar (NWFP) and affectees of Marri gas field in Ghotki (Sindh), the demonstrators demanded the withdrawal of all what they alleged fabricated cases against them on behest of the ‘forces of exploitation’.
Speaking on the occasion, the protest leaders said that the tenants had made the lands cultivable with sheer hard work through generations but now some ‘influential corners’ wanted to banish them from their homelands. They vowed to join hands with the tenants’ to get ownership rights against the lands under their tenancies.
They demanded compensation for the displaced people of the Marri gas field as per the agreement and release of Mandal Shar, Zarqa Shar, Mir Muhammad, Raharr Shar and Jamal Abdul Nasir, arrested for demanding rights for the gas field DPs.
Benazir: PPP’s self-exiled chairperson Benazir Bhutto has pledged that her party will bring the neglected Seraiki belt at par with the country’s developed areas.
In a message faxed to the participants of a Seraiki International Conference organized in London by the Pakistan Seraiki Party (UK), Ms Bhutto said the Seraiki belt was known for its rich cultural heritage and ‘Sufi’ traditions.
She said unfortunately the area had remained neglected in development and not given the attention it deserved. However, she said the credit went to the PPP who recognized the development needs of the Seraiki areas.
It was this recognition that made the first PPP government to set up the first university in the area in Multan. It was followed by another university in Bahawalpur during the same government of her late father, she said.
The PPP chairperson asserted that these universities had produced a large number of trained and educated people who were now fighting for the rights of the Seraiki people.
She hoped that scholars, leaders and intellectuals gathered at the conference would not only focus on the issues facing the Seraiki people but also come out with concrete suggestions on how to overcome the problems being faced by the country.