KARACHI, Aug 26: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Monday crticized the indiscriminate firing by law enforcement agencies that killed five poor tenants in Okara, Punjab.

In a statement issued here, the Coordination Committee of Muttahida claimed there were many agricultural farms of personnel of the armed forces in the slum areas of Okara, and the farmers/tenants working on those lands were being treated like slaves, adding that they were being deprived of fundamental rights.

They said that peaceful farmers — including women and children — had raised their voices for their rights two days back, after which the police and rangers opened indiscriminate fire on them, resulting in five deaths as reported in a section of the press. The use of force to suppress the voices being raised was the equivalent of a barbaric, callous and condemnable act.

They said that it could be judged from this incident that the landlords, waderas, and the establishment wanted to make poor tenants slaves and deprive them of their due rights. The Muttahida had been struggling to end this brutal system, the committee added.

They demanded that President Pervez Musharraf take notice of the incident and give the poor farmers their rights. They also extended sympathies to the bereaved families and said that the Muttahida was with them, and it would keep on raising its voice for the rights of poor tenants of Okara as well as of Punjab.

PTI CONDEMNS: Meraj Mohammad Khan, Secretary-General Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf condemned the killing of an innocent farmer, Suleman Masih, at the hands of rangers in Okara, and the wounding of many more. He said that eight tenants were missing, and it is not known how many have been killed.

He demanded that the rights of innocent farmers be protected from the vested interests of land grabbers and even army personnel, who have no business to take away land from the tenants, who have been working on it for decades, if not more.