HYDERABAD, Feb 15: Hundreds of peasants, including women, began a long march from the grave of peasant leader Haider Bux Jatoi here on Sunday to pressurise the Sindh Assembly to introduce amendments to the Sindh Tenancy Act.

After marching through various city thoroughfares the peasants held a sit-in at Haider chowk.

The speakers urged the assembly to amend the Sindh Tenancy Act to protect the rights of the peasants. The participants of the long march—jointly sponsored by South Asia Partnership, Agricultural Reforms Committee and the Sindh Porhiyat Sangat— will reach Karachi on Feb 26.

Speaking on the occasion, SAP executive director Mohammad Tahseen said that even today many Benazirs of the country were barefooted and many Bilawals were hungry. He warned the rulers that their (peasants’) decency should not be construed as their weakness.

He said that the situation had radically changed and if any excesses were committed against any peasant in Sindh, the Punjab province would be the first to raise its voice.

Karamat Ali of the Piler said that the long march would prove to be a milestone for the unity of the peasants and the workers. He urged the oppressed sections of society to unite against repression.

The Sindh coordinator of the SAP, Zulfiqar Shah, said that peasants of the province had become conscious of their rights and with the support of the workers they would no longer allow feudal elements to rule over the tillers of the land. He specifically warned a landlord of Sanghar district of dire consequences if he did not stop excesses against his peasants.

He appealed to the members of the provincial assembly to introduce the proposed amendments to the Sindh Tenancy Act and warned that if their demands were not accepted, the rulers would not be able to withstand the second protest of the peasants.

Sindh Hari Committee chief Azhar Jatoi demanded that the lands in Sindh should be handed over to the peasants.

Punhal Sario in his speech said that it was misfortune of the haris that after the construction of Sukkur, Guddu and Kotri barrages, the lands were distributed among the feudal lords instead of the haris.

He said that the workers had always been exploited. Even in this modern age, only feudal elements were sitting in the assemblies, he added.

He appealed to the people from all walks of life to participate in the long march at Karachi on Feb 26.

INTERNET: The regional general manager of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company, Zulfiqar Ali Ursani, inaugurated PTCL multimedia and broadband (internet) services for the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology and Jamshoro colony exchanges.