Pakistan history would have been different if we had implemented Land Reforms in 1947 or later, but unfortunately Pakistan has been riddled with feudal lords who sit in Parliaments making laws that only benefit them. They have brought ruin to the nation and someone has to put a stop to this ongoing cycle of the rich becoming richer while the poor are pushed down to the floor. These feudal lords do not pay any taxes on their large land holding and take a lion’s share of all produced in Pakistan, thus inflating the prices of staples such as wheat and rice as well as vegetables. They are out of the tax circle as they don’t pay tax on the crop produced on their land. This started the wishes circle that has no end.
We have thousands of feudal lords who own thousands of acres of land in different parts of Pakistan. The peasants, who works the land the year round does not owe it, and some small holders are robbed by the middle man. These hard working people are always starving and under heavy debts making their lives a living hell. There has to be a change or we may see situation like the French Revolution in Pakistan soon. The majority of the politicians in Pakistan are feudal landlords. The Bhuttos’ are one of the richest families of the subcontinent, they own around 40,000 acres of land in Sindh, the slogan of ‘Roti, Kapra, Makan’ that Z A Bhutto raised never saw any benefit being brought to the enslaved millions in Sindh.
Throughout history, feudalism has appeared in different forms. The feudal prototype in Pakistan consists of landlords with large joint families possessing thousands of acres of land. Feudalism has become a strong part of the political system, so both the government and feudal dictatorships are inter-related. This is why it has become so complex to isolate these systems. The landlord, by virtue of his ownership and control of such vast amounts of land and human resources, is powerful enough to influence the distribution of water, fertilizers, tractor permits and agricultural credit and, consequently exercises considerable influence over the revenue, police and judicial administration of the area. The landlord is, thus, lord and master.
Such absolute power can easily corrupt, and it is no wonder that the feudal system here is corrupted. To begin with, the Pakistan Muslim League, the party which laid the foundation of Pakistan, was almost wholly dominated by feudal lords such as the Zamindars, Jagirdars, Nawabs, Nawabzadas, Mansabdars, Arbabs, Makhdooms, and Sardars, the sole exception being Qauid-i-Azam, as he came from a family of merchants and lawyers, and now the Sharif’s (who are industrialists). Pakistan’s major political parties are feudal-oriented, and more than two-thirds of the National Assembly (lower house of the legislature) is composed of this class. The question is who will bell the cat. Who will cast the first stone?
FAHAD ANWAR,
Karachi, May 17.