MULTAN, July 5: The second round of talks between Muttahida Anjuman Mazareen leaders and government representative has been inconclusive in Okara as both parties remain stick to their stance.
The tenants team was led by Anjuman’s president Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar while a military officer reportedly represented the government.
The tenant’s leaders offered three options to make up with the government — (1) award ownership rights to tenants free-of-cost (2) sell out the tenancy lands to tenants on official rate payable in easy instalments or (3) if the government wants to lease out the land to tenants by declaring them lessees then the lease should be of 99 years as per the board of revenue rules.
The government representative however refused to accept any of them and instead offered two other options in resolving the dispute. He said the tenants should either accept alternative lands in some other areas like Dera Ghazi Khan or they should sign a lease deed for only five years.
Casting away both the proposals, tenant’s leaders said that alternative lands in other areas would create socio-political problems and that it would be amounted to usurp the rights of landless tillers of that areas. To close with the second offer would mean their evacuation after the termination of lease period.
However, both parties agreed to keep continue the dialogue process in order to find some peaceful solution to the crisis.
Meanwhile, the situation remained tense at the Peerowal farms of the Punjab Seed Corporation in Khanewal district on Friday as well. A heavy police contingent remained present around all the link roads and intersections that led to the Peerowal farms.
The irrigation water, electricity and telephone also remained suspended making life for a population of over 20,000 souls miserable.
Tenants of some 21 official agriculture farms in Punjab have launched a struggle to get ownership rights over the lands of their tenancies claiming that they have been cultivating these lands for the last one century.
Spread on an area of 68,000 acres, these state-managed farms are situated in Okara, Sahiwal, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Vehari, Pakpattan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Jhang, Khanewal, Leiah, Khushab and Kasur. Most of them are under the administrative control of military, Punjab Seed Corporation, agriculture and livestock departments.