Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: On a motion moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, the Senate chairman on Thursday referred the issue of the use of brute force against the peasants of Okara military farmlands to the Human Rights Committee for report. The issue came up during a discussion on an adjournment motion moved by 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 were suffering and agricultural sector declining 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 rich and powerful from dispossessing farmers from their land. The use of brute force against the farmers of Okara military farmlands was merely another example.

He said that Okara peasants simply wanted to highlight their grievances by observing the International Peasants Day on April 17 but the state, fearful of its cruel policies being exposed, retaliated by arresting the unarmed villagers and charging them with terrorism. It was sad that anti terror laws had been used to stifle dissent and curb farmers’ voices, Senator Babar said, asking how farming could possibly prosper in such an environment. He expressed concerns that the villagers might be tried in military courts. He highlighted the case of the general secretary of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP), who he revealed has been shifted from Sahiwal jail to a military cantonment.

He called for revising the wheat support price and giving incentives to farmers to increase production to save them from ruin. He drew comparisons with the days of Benazir Bhutto, reminding the House of the time when potato growers faced crippling losses. The former prime minister had announced she would purchase the entire crop from famers at official price and throw into the sea if needed but would not let the farmers suffer economic ruin. He claimed the upward revision of wheat support price during the previous PPP government led to the injection of nearly three hundred billion rupees in the country’s economy.

These steps, he said scathingly, required empathy towards the agriculture sector and farmers and the realisation that food security was linked to the prosperity and well being of the farming community, something the ruling elite was incapable of demonstrating. The chair then referred the matter to the Human Rights committee.