News about whats going on in Okara is spreading, whats worse is the lack of any response from the government. people are on hunger strike and some it is said have even committed suicide.
The appalling Okara folly, nay, disaster
Kamran Shafi
The writer is a retired army officer
and a freelance columnist
I am horrified, I am shocked at what I have heard and seen in Okara this last Wednesday when I visited there to see what is going on in the so-called Military Farm Chaks. If only half of what I have heard and seen and read is true, the State of Pakistan has a huge problem on its hands. Not only is the State being seen as openly and flagrantly violating the basic human rights of the poor people of the Chaks, it is in the midst of a massive PR disaster. The print media, ranging from daily newspapers to the well-respected weeklies and monthlies have already carried, and are carrying on a regular basis, devastating stories on what the so-called "law enforcing agencies’, particularly the Rangers are doing in Okara. In addition, and I hope alarmingly for the Powers that lord it over us, there are reports galore of many foreign journals and TV channels showing keen interest in the stand-off between the tenants of the Farms and the State. If half of what I have heard and seen in Okara is true; if only half is only half true, I am ashamed of calling myself an ex-soldier.