Sindh has a feudal and semi-feudal social composition and agrarian outlook, agriculture being the mainstay of the overall economy of the province. More than 50 percent of the province’s population lives in rural area, and more than 70 percent of rural residents derive their livelihoods from agriculture, livestock, forestry, or fishing. Yet they continue to be pushed on the margins of society.
Export details from July 2010 to March 2011 that were released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are an eye-opener for the ruling agriculture establishment of the country. The SBP revealed that big landowners were least affected by the floods, which inflicted a loss of $10 billion to the country. The World Bank also recently reported that the flood-affected people in Sindh – those with a stake in agriculture – were the most affected.
The peasantry in Sindh was hitherto well protected under Sindh Tenancy Act-1950, but the Act was never properly implemented and was manipulated by the agriculture feudal establishment prevailing of Sindh. The Sindh Tenancy Act was passed in the Sindh Assembly in 1950 after mass mobilisation initiated by peasant leader Haider Bux Jatoi. The prime object of the Act was to address the respective roles of tenants and landlords, and to provide the means for division of produce between them.
The same agricultural establishment continue to extract surplus from their tenants under this Act, despite the fact that the Sindh Tenancy Act-1950 gives discretionary powers to haris, empowering them to refuse proving free labour to a zamindar. The definition of what is “free” labour becomes disputed, however, and peasants continue to be exploited.
While incumbent government of Sindh distributed land among landless peasants in province, the dilemma is that after getting state land, they face occupation of their allotted land. A majority of poor women who were allotted land are also not getting agricultural inputs, as was pledged to them.
Take for instance the case of Asia Mallah, which was identified by Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI). She had been allotted four acres land in District Thatta in the first phase of the Sindh government’s land distribution programme. Later on, the local landlord not only filed a litigation case against her allotted land but torched her home and forced her to migrate from the area.
Given such cases, setting up peasant courts is imperative for the quick disposal of cases and dispensing speedy justice to the peasants’ class. The composition of a tenancy tribunal should also be revitalised, and judges of a civil court should be authorized to deal with cases of a peasant court.
PDI, in collaboration with Oxfam-GB, has already suggested that a comprehensive pro-poor farmers’ policy is the need of the hour. Such a policy will address the modern challenges faced by poor farmers: insurance of crops and peasants should be implemented, and there is a need to equip peasants with new technologies and methods in agriculture that can not only help improve their livelihoods but also bring about prosperity to their areas.
The writer is Coordinator, Participatory Development Initiatives.