LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has announced its support for the tenants and small farmers against forcible occupation of the state land they have been ploughing since decades.

HRCP stands in full solidarity with the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee, Anjuman Muzareen Punjab and all small farmers and landless peasants who oppose any forcible occupation by the state of the lands that belong to them or on which they depend for their livelihood, says a statement.

We are deeply concerned to learn that some 27,000 acres of land in Arifwala tehsil has been reportedly allocated to private companies and that their tenants are being threatened with police action should they fail to vacate these lands, it says, adding the local administration must be taken to task for its highhandedness.

It urges the federal and provincial governments to devise a medium-term plan for land reforms that allow small farmers and landless peasants to work on agricultural land with dignity and support rather than in fear of reprisal.