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Please ask Asma jehanghir to felicitate the injured
peasant women to hospital
Police blockade village on behalf of Rana Iqbal, the
speaker of Punjab assembly
Injured women wait medical treatment, police arresting
any one leaving the village
Contact for details (0336 448 2802)
By: Farooq Tariq
On 3rd May
at 4pm Rana Mujib, son of Rana Mohammed Iqbal, the
speaker of Punjab Assembly, entered a village Chah
Dhaban Wala near Bhai Phero in Tehsil Patoki to occupy
12 acres of land along with dozens of gangsters. When
the women of the village resisted, they were fired at
and nine women and one young boy of 10 year were
injured. The land belongs to the tenants of Department
of Auqaf who were working on this land since 1920. The
Ranas were furious because they were unable to take over
the land few months earlier because of furious
resistance of the peasant women.
In protest of this brutal action by the son of the
speaker Punjab Assembly, the tenants went to the main GT
Road and blocked the road for few hours. Police came to
negotiate. They promised to register a case against the
gangsters and pleaded the tenants to vacate the roads.
When the roads were cleared in the night of 3rd May,
police asked the tenants to remove the name of the son
of the speaker from the application. The tenants
refused. The police registered a case against the
tenants for blockading the road and another FIR against
the tenants to attack the son of the Speaker.
Police then went to the village to arrest anyone leaving
the village. Till writing this report, it is believed
that over 20 villagers have been arrested. No one can
leave the village Chah Dhaban Wala and police have been
deployed on all sides of the village.
The leader of the tenant told me on phone that please
ask and if possible send Asma jehanghir to our village
and other women organizations to
take out the injured peasant women who are in the
village and there is no medical treatment for them. The
injured women are Majeedan Bibi, balqees Bibi, Saba Bibi,
Shafiqan Bibi, Naseeb Bibi and the young boy Mohammed
Shoaib.
The History of the incident
In 1920, the land in Chah Dhaban Wala belonged to a
Gordawara. It was not a fertile land. The tenants worked
very hard to make this land cultivatable. In 1960, the
department of Auqaf took over the land and the tenants
were asked to pay a very small amount of 20 Rupees per
acre to the department. The total land was around 1400
acres. Out of this around 800 acres is now left with the
tenants and other land is been taken over by the Ranas
and other feudal of the area on one and another excuse.
In 2007/2008, the department of Auqaf increased the
lease amount to 2500 Rupees and the tenants went to
Lahore High Court against this increase.
Around six months back, 12 acres of land was forcefully
taken by one of the friend of Rana Iqbal son. When they
came to occupy the land, the women of the village
resisted and they were thrown out of the village by
these brave women. The peasant men did not went to
resist as they knew that they will be shot at straight
by these gangsters. Now on 3rd may,
the same gang came back to occupy the land and women
resisted, they opened fire.
This is sheer gangsterism. Poor peasants are now
confined the village and the injured women are unable to
take medical treatment because of police blockade. The
police at Bhai Phero, known also as Phool Nagar are all
acting on the directions of the Ranas and they do not
care of the law.
An act of feudal gangsterism should not go unnoticed in
the suburbs of Lahore.
I appeal to SPN members, and also to all those who are
receiving this mail to contact Mohammed Liaqat at the
village (0336 448 2802) to know the first hand report
and help the injured women.
I also appeal to Asma Jehanghir and other women
activists to take a serious notice of the situation. The
members of Labour Party Pakistan, Women Workers Help
Line, Anjaman Mozareen Punjab (AMP) are in contact with
the villagers. We will not leave them alone.
The tenants of Okara under the leadership of Mehr Abdul
Sattar are planning a public meeting at the village.
However, the main priority is to bring these women to
hospital. The police say that if they agree to remove
the name of the speaker son, they can leave the village
and also that there will be no more arrests. This has
been rejected by the villagers. Liaqat says that his
wife got rifle hits on her head, how could we remove his
name from the gangsters?
Please take up this case on priority base. Talk to the
villagers and see for yourself what is happening in
Punjab villages.
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