March of the landless peasants towards Lahore
As i write these lines, members of the band Laal and the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) are currently in Khanewal mobilizing one of the largest movement of the landless peasants for a march towards Lahore and presenting their demands for ownership of land to the government.
Tomorrow, approximately 60,000 landless peasants are expected to converge upon Lahore. They have been facing stiff resistance from the establishment and the police.
It is up to us to express our solidarity with these people and do all we can to help out. Talal Naeem
Here are some of the updates that Taimur and others have been sending in from the march:
Posted by: “Taimur Rehman”
Mon Mar 8, 2010 9:31 pm (PST)
A massive force of police has surrounded our village 81/82. But we are determined to break the barricade and proceed. The people are ready to fight. In fact there are so many people that the village has run out of tractor trolleys for transport.
Meanwhile at 1:30 a small contingent of Anjman Mozareen Punjab (AMP) women and CMKP workers will protest in front of Punjab assembly lahore.
Police ka kirdar tu recent videos say nazar hi aa raha hai sub ko.
PPP MPA Amina Buttar has also joined the march, Ahmed Mukhtar is expected as well.
In solidarity
Taimur
Breaking the siege
Posted by: “Taimur Rehman
Mon Mar 8, 2010 10:11 pm (PST)
With about 1,000 peasants, we are moving slowly through kachi back roads through the fields to evade the encirclement of our village by the police. As soon as we group up with one or two more villages then we will become unstoppable. People are joining us in tractor trolleys, buses, trucks, motorcycles and even cycles, and all are wearing red headbands. In solidarity
Taimur Rahman
Reports are in from Khanewal from the AMP march that containers and trucks have been placed at various points along the route to stop the march from progressing further. But the 10,000-strong procession has managed to remove two containers thus far by sheer manpower.
Around 500 policemen were deployed as well, but after facing resistance from the workers, they have resorted to merely watching from the sidelines.
The rally is continuing to proceed in tractors, cars and even on foot.
In solidarity,
Mahvash
Broken through
Posted by: “Taimur Rehman”
Tue Mar 9, 2010 12:07 am (PST)
The police had set up a container with a massive police force to block us from getting out of the villages.
Peasants pelted the police with stones. The police withdrew. Then they moved the container with raw human power. They filled up a canal and drove the tractors through there.
When cars got stuck they lifted them with their hands and moved them across.
Now there are a sea od people with us. Impossible to estimate the numbers. Easily above 10000. We are now on the Multan road moving towards lahore. There is a sea of red flags. It is a revolt on a mass scale comrades. We have captured it on video but it is too huge to capture with one camera.
People are raising the slogans that Laal has taught them and the atmosphere is militant and electric.
Nothing can stop us now
In solidarity
Taimur Rahman
Update by Talal Naeem (via Facebook):
I have just received word that the negotiations between the leadership of the March and the Government have been successful. The chief minister has personally agreed to the demands of the landless tenants, both in writing and press conference. The march has been called off for now. The peasants are celebrating and the atmosphere there is jubilant. I congratulate the leadership of the AMP and all those who have shown their support for them.
Taimur is asking them to continue the struggle for the rest of the peasants in the country. Laal has made a makeshift stage out of a tractor and using a nearby mosque’s speakers they are staging a concert for the tenants.
Decidedly , U.S.A. is the largest donor to Pakistan and even this year they are giving Pakistan grants in hefty numbers so the State must address this problem and see the grant is utilized in the interest of these poor people who can atleast gather the basic necessaties of life.
A show of unity among the nation’s deprived and long ignored class. It’s been years that this issue had been discussed but no action has been taken. The government needs to address the issue urgently to give a feeling of belonging to this people.