In 17 cities and rural districts, demonstrations and rallies were held to honour the historical struggles of peasant communities and to assert demands for food sovereignty and agrarian justice. However, the day was marred by state repression, particularly in Dipalpur-Okara, where local administration and intelligence agencies disrupted peaceful events, revealing the growing crackdown on land rights movements in the country. They banned our main event of the day to take place at a city stadium and sealed the stadium. We were expecting few thousands to attend. They harassed the farmers leaders while they were holding a oresss conference to condemn the ban,

 State Crackdown in Okara-Dipalpur

The most serious violation occurred in Okara, a region with a powerful legacy of resistance against military-controlled corporate farming. In this area, the Anjuman Mozareen Punjab (AMP) has been at the forefront of resisting the military’s land grabs since 2001. The AMP has long demanded legal ownership of the lands that peasants have cultivated for generations on military farms. Their slogan, “Ownership or Death,” continues to symbolize a movement that has endured brutal repression, including the killing of at least 13 activists and the arrest of over 2,000 people between 2000 and 2019.

On International Farmers Day, despite facing threats and pressure, members of the Kissan Organising Committee held a press conference in Dipalpur to denounce the administration’s actions and reaffirm their commitment to agrarian rights. A protest outside the local press club drew attention to the state’s suppression of the event, once again exposing the systematic silencing of rural dissent.

Further intensifying this repression, Farooq Tariq, General Secretary of the PKRC and a leading voice in Pakistan’s farmers’ movement, was harassed and threatened by intelligence agencies. His consistent opposition to corporate farming and the diversion of Indus River waters has made him a target of surveillance and intimidation.

The PKRC strongly condemns these attempts to criminalise peaceful organising and advocacy, and reaffirms its solidarity with all those resisting land dispossession and environmental injustice.

 Key Issues Highlighted on International Farmers Day

Despite repression, mobilisations across the country—the international day of peasants was celebrated in 15 district of Pakistan —

1. Planned Construction of Six New Canals on the Indus River

The government’s proposal to build six new canals along the Indus River was a central concern raised during the day of action. These canals would divert already-declining water resources from the river, exacerbating water scarcity for small farmers, particularly in downstream provinces like Sindh and Southern Punjab. Speakers across the country condemned this plan as extractive and anti-people, calling for an immediate halt to infrastructure that privileges large landholders and corporate interests over the needs of subsistence farmers.

2. Opposition to Corporate Farming

Participants also highlighted the alarming expansion of corporate farming. Framed by the government as a strategy to “modernise” agriculture, corporate farming in reality facilitates the transfer of fertile land from peasants to national and international agribusinesses. Farmers’ movements across Pakistan are resisting this shift, labelling it as a corporate land grab that undermines food sovereignty, increases rural inequality, and threatens the displacement of millions of smallholders.

This was first time in history of Pakistan that the international day was celebrated in so many districts mainly the member organisations of PKRC.

Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC)