Rights to land: Remembering Kulyana
Anjuman Mazareen commemorates third anniversary of peasants’ resistance.
OKARA:
Over 5,000 member and supporters of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP) gathered at the Kulyana Estate in Okara on Friday to commemorate the third anniversary of the violence in which three peasants of the military farms lost their lives.
AMP Rinala Estate leader Nadeem Ashraf began by leading a prayer for the three peasants; Mohammed Amir, Baba Amir and Mohammad Abbas, who died on April 6, 2009, in what he called the military estate management action meant to displace peasants from their lands.
AMP Kulyana Estate leader Malik Saleem Jhakkar said, “Three years to this day, at 8pm, our comrades were martyred. We pay our tribute to them and their families.”
Jhakkar said, “They tried to displace us, but we decided to resist. This village (Chak 28-2B) remained under siege for three days. We resolved that to prove that this land belongs to the peasants of Kulyana.” He said the AMP struggle would continue till rights to land were granted to all the peasants.
Paying tribute to the peasants of Kulyana, Workers Party Pakistan (WPP) Information Secretary Aasim Sajjad Akhtar said, “Today, all mainstream political parties are questioning the military monopolies. But we must remember that the peasants of Okara were the first to raise their voice against military oppression in the Punjab.” He quoted from Habib Jalib Jaag meray Punjab (Wake, my Punjab!) and said he wanted to refresh Jalib’s message in people’s minds.
“As we remember the three martyrs in Kulyana, we must also pay our tribute to the countless martyrs in Balochistan,” he said.
Labour Party Pakistan Spokesperson Farooq Tariq, AMP General Secretary Mehr Abdul Sattar and WPP Central Committee member Javed Akhtar also addressed the gathering.
Pierre Rousset from the Fourth International, also known as the World Party of Socialist Revolution, and Tony IIltis from the Socialist Alliance joined the rally later.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2012.
Over 5,000 member and supporters of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP) gathered at the Kulyana Estate in Okara on Friday to commemorate the third anniversary of the violence in which three peasants of the military farms lost their lives.
AMP Rinala Estate leader Nadeem Ashraf began by leading a prayer for the three peasants; Mohammed Amir, Baba Amir and Mohammad Abbas, who died on April 6, 2009, in what he called the military estate management action meant to displace peasants from their lands.
AMP Kulyana Estate leader Malik Saleem Jhakkar said, “Three years to this day, at 8pm, our comrades were martyred. We pay our tribute to them and their families.”
Jhakkar said, “They tried to displace us, but we decided to resist. This village (Chak 28-2B) remained under siege for three days. We resolved that to prove that this land belongs to the peasants of Kulyana.” He said the AMP struggle would continue till rights to land were granted to all the peasants.
Paying tribute to the peasants of Kulyana, Workers Party Pakistan (WPP) Information Secretary Aasim Sajjad Akhtar said, “Today, all mainstream political parties are questioning the military monopolies. But we must remember that the peasants of Okara were the first to raise their voice against military oppression in the Punjab.” He quoted from Habib Jalib Jaag meray Punjab (Wake, my Punjab!) and said he wanted to refresh Jalib’s message in people’s minds.
“As we remember the three martyrs in Kulyana, we must also pay our tribute to the countless martyrs in Balochistan,” he said.
Labour Party Pakistan Spokesperson Farooq Tariq, AMP General Secretary Mehr Abdul Sattar and WPP Central Committee member Javed Akhtar also addressed the gathering.
Pierre Rousset from the Fourth International, also known as the World Party of Socialist Revolution, and Tony IIltis from the Socialist Alliance joined the rally later.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2012.