All that is solid melts into air 2: A rush and a push and the land that we stand on is ours…

Photo by Shabazz Bajwa

... it has been before, so why can't it be now?

Photo by Shabazz Bajwa

Kulyana Estate, Okara District, April 6

About 7,000 peasants converged on a village in Kulyana Estate to commemorate the April 6, 2009, martyrdom of peasants Mohammed Amir, Baba Amir and Mohammad Abbas, killed by armed thugs working for their landlords — who happen to be the Pakistani military. Despite these and 13 other slayings, the tenant farmers of the Okara military farms, organised by Anjuman Muzareen Punjab (AMP) have since July 2000 resisted an unlawful new leasing arrangement designed to impoverish them and force them from their land. The peasants have been winning control over their land and water but the struggle for legal title continues.

This struggle has been notable for the unity between Muslim and Christian peasants and the high degree of participation by women.

Press report of April 6 commemoration: http://tribune.com.pk/story/360957/rights-to-land-remembering-kulyana/

Background information to the struggle can be found at the AMP's English-language website: http://www.anjumanmuzareen.org.pk/