On a motion moved by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar, the Senate chairman on Thursday referred the issue of the use of force against the peasants of the Okara Military Farms to the Human Rights Committee for report.
The issue came up during discussion on an adjournment motion moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati on the continued neglect by the government of the farming sector and the growing frustration and unrest among the farmers.
Taking the floor, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the farmers are suffering and the agriculture sector having to endure hardships because of the state’s callous attitude towards the farmers.
The state has not only neglected the farming community but is also doing nothing to stop the powerful sections from dispossessing the farmers from their land, he said and recalled the use of brute force against the farmers of Okara Military Farms last month.
He said that Okara peasants only wanted to highlight their grievances by observing the International Peasants Day on April 17 but the state, fearing that it will expose how their lands are being grabbed, retaliated by arresting the unarmed villagers and charging them with terrorism.
“It is sad that anti terror laws have been used to stifle dissent and curb the farmers’ voice,” he said, and asked how the farming can prosper in such an environment.
He also expressed apprehensions that the villagers may be tried in military courts. If the anti terror laws are imposed against the villagers, there is serious apprehension that the farmers may even be tried in military courts.
He said his apprehensions were based on the reports that the general secretary of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP) has been shifted from Sahiwal jail to a military cantonment and demanded his release.
He called for revising the wheat support price and giving incentives to farmers to increase the production and save them from ruination.
He said that in a similar situation during the days of Benazir Bhutto when the potato growers were facing crippling losses, the former prime minister had announced that she will purchase the entire crop from the famers at the official price and throw it into the sea if necessary but that she would not let the farmers suffer in any way. He said the upward revision of wheat support price during the previous PPP government led to the injection of nearly Rs 300 billion in the national economy.
This, however, requires empathy towards the agriculture sector and farmers and realisation that food security is linked to prosperity and wellbeing of the farming community which the ruling elite is incapable of demonstrating, he said.
The chair then referred the matter to the Human Rights Committee.