Salutations to the struggle of the brave peasants of Hashtnagar!!
The oppression faced by the poor peasants of Pakistan has reached ghastly proportions. On the one hand, the poor peasants of Charsada (Hashtnagar, NWFP) are facing a brutal act of forceful evictions from their lands. On the other hand, the military, in alliance with the multi-national corporations (MNCs), IMF and WTO, is imposing its agenda on the small farmers and poor tenants of Okkara, Khanewal, Sargodha and various other areas of the Punjab, so as to deprive them of their right to own the land that they till with their immense hard work. Their very survival and livelihood is under threat. WHAT A SHAME! The ones who feed the people are themselves living on an empty stomach in this country.
However, in spite of all the despair and desperation, the courageous struggle of the peasants of Hashtnagar, under the leadership of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, stands out as an example and a sign of hope for not only the rest of the peasant brothers and sisters, but also for all the deprived and exploited masses of Pakistan and the world.
Let us come together and begin a new struggle for a prosperous future that is free of all forms of exploitation and oppression. This is only possible through the constructive participation by and unwavering unity amongst all progressive forces of the society. We express our solemn solidarity with the small and poor peasants of Hashtnagar, Okkara, Khanewal, Sargodha and all areas where they are facing deprivation and oppression at the hands of the ruling classes of this country. We vociferously demand that:
1. Throughout the country and especially in Hashtnangar, the brutal acts of forceful evictions of peasants must be stopped immediately.
2. All the false anti-terrorist cases registered
against peasant leaders, including that on the General Secretary of Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, Afzal Khamosh, must be withdrawn immediately.
3. The poor tenants of Okkara, Khanewal, Sargodha and those of various other areas of Punjab be given ownership rights to the lands they till.
4. Eliminate the big fiefdoms and absentee landlordism, and eradicate all the private jails of the big feudal lords.
5. Interests of small farmers must be guarded against the monopolization of corporate farming, multi-national companies and big feudal lords. Their interests must be protected against the onslaught of IMF, World Bank and WTO´s imperialist policies.
Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party Pakistan
ASR Resource Center
