LAHORE: Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee and Anjuman Mazareen Punjab on Thursday declared that small farmers will not vacate their land and are prepared to fight against the government’s impunity to forcefully take over their lands.
“We reject corporate farming, which is a deadly poison for peasants, agricultural workers, and small-scale farmers,” they said. “This policy is designed to destroy our lives, to fill the pockets of the capitalist class & establishment, and is a conspiracy against us.”
Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee and Anjuman Mazareen Punjab, at a press conference on Thursday demanded comprehensive agrarian reforms should be implemented across Pakistan. They called for land to be distributed to landless peasants, agricultural workers, and small-scale farmers, stating that this is their legal right.
“We know how to take our rights,” they said. “We are fighting a legal battle against these injustices in the Lahore High Court and Supreme Court. We stand in solidarity with small farmers, peasants, and agricultural workers across Pakistan, including in Sindh, who are fighting against Cholistan canal projects that will destroy their lives,” they alleged.
The government’s Green Pakistan Initiative and corporate farming policies have led to the allocation of state lands to private companies. So far, 4.8 million acres of land have been identified, with 0.9 million acres already allocated to private companies in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Punjab, aside from Okara, 27,000 acres of land at Muhammad Nagar Seed Farm in Arifwala have been allocated to private companies. This trend is also being initiated in other farms across Punjab.
Farmers are being threatened by Deputy Commissioners and state institutions to vacate their lands immediately or face police action. However, peasants & small farmers are resisting these efforts, as seen in a recent Arifwala incident where over 700 farmers blocked the path of a heavy police contingent sent to take over their land.
Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) General Secretary Farooq Tariq stated, “The government is trying to strengthen the feudal system through corporate farming instead of implementing land reforms. This policy is against peasants & small-scale farmers.
Farooq Tariq added, “The Green Revolution of the Ayub era introduced chemical fertilizers and pesticides, damaging the land and its productivity for years. Now, corporate farming is being presented as a second Green Revolution, which is nothing but a sham.”
Anjuman Mazareen Punjab President Mehr Ghulam Abbas said, “The government is trying to snatch away our rights to please the capitalist class. Our ancestors have been living on this land for over a century, and they made this barren land cultivable through their hard work.”
Farmers vowed to resist the government’s impunity to take over their lands, saying, “We will not back down. We are prepared to make any sacrifice to protect our rights.”
The government’s policies have been met with widespread resistance from farmers, who are determined to fight against the corporate takeover of their lands.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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