Speakers at a peasants conference and a launching ceremony of a report on “State of Peasants Rights in Sindh 2015” on the occasion of International Day of Peasants demanded to establish Hari Courts in Sindh, amend Sindh Tenancy Act, initiate land reforms to give agriculture land to landless peasants and provide education, health and residential facilities to all of them.
The Sindh Hari Conference and the report launching ceremony was organised by Hari Welfare Association Sindh (HWAS) in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) at Karachi Press Club on Sunday. After the conference, the peasants and representatives of civil society organisations also staged a demonstration in front of the Karachi Press Club for rights of peasants.
PILER Executive Director Karamat Ali presided over the conference and the main speakers included senior peasants leader Saleh Bilo, senior trade unions leader and trainer from Manchester Geoff Brown, President of HWAS, Akram Ali Khaskheli, research Aijaz Ali Khawaja, Executive Director of The Change Organisation Ishak Soomro, Ashraf Ali from the UN FAO, Zulfiqar Shah, Joint Director of PILER and Zaheer Ahmed from ILO.
Speaking on the occasion, Karamat Ali said that the conditions of peasants had not changed even after the independence. “If you read Madsood Khaddarposh’s note of dissent in Hari report, you can find that the conditions of peasants have not improved. Inequality and concentration of the landholding has increased. Political and social influence of landlords has increased. We can see that 80 per cent elected people in the assemblies belong to the same landlord families which have been elected from Sindh before the partition.”
He said the British Empire had introduced hereditary property system in India which was different from the Moghal landholding system as it encouraged property rights of those people who could cultivate the lands. The landholding system had to be changed at the time of independence but nothing happened in this regard, he added.
“Current rulers of Sindh belong to feudal families and they even don’t allow local government system to function which provides some representation to labour and Haris,” he maintained. He pointed out that the GSP+ facility by the European Union had provided an opportunity to implement the ILO core labour standards and other international conventions concerning to human rights, environmental protection and good governance.
He said the Sindh Industrial Relations Act (SIRA) had not provided any opportunity to agriculture workers because there was no method to register a union in it. Geoff Brown, senior trade unions leader and trainer from Manchester, pointed out that there was no peasantry in the UK and only corporate farming existed but it was not sustainable. “We need to protect the environment. So, we have to support peasants and their struggle anywhere in the world.”
Akram Khaskheli, head of Hari Welfare Association, said there were associations and unions of other workers, but peasants were not organised at a unified platform. The Sindh Tenancy Act was passed in 1950 but there was a need to amend it to provide a relief to the peasants. All the proposed amendments provided by labour organisations had not incorporated and measures should be taken for proper implementation, he suggested.
Saleh Biloo, a peasant leader, said that the Sindh Tenancy Act had provided some protection to peasants for achieving their rights. Institutions like Sindh Seed Corporation and Zarai Tarqiati Bank were established to provide support to the farmers but they were serving only the landlords, he commented.
“Sugar mills in Sindh are exploiting the growers because they are owned by rulers. Sugar cess is imposed to provide facilities to both growers and peasants but it is not used for development. The food department is infested with corruption. It is not providing Bardana (gunny bags) to the real farmers but providing support to big landlords.”
Ashraf Ali from UN FAO said there was a need to create awareness among Haris and landowners about the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950. The mistrust between peasants and landlords needed to be minimised by creating awareness among both the peasants and landlords, he opined. Zaheer Ahmed from the ILO said that the ILO had introduced alternative livelihood training programme in Sindh, especially for those farmers who were affected by floods or drought.
Joint Director of PILER Zulfiqar Shah appreciated the efforts of Hari Welfare Association for preparing the “State of Peasants Rights in Sindh 2015.” They pointed out that official statistics indicated that half of the labour force in Pakistan was associated with agriculture sector.
“The official figure also indicates that there is an extreme poverty in Sindh. Over 70 per cent of population in Sindh is living below the poverty line. Majority of the poor in Sindh are peasants who are facing marginalisation as majority of population is not part of political decision making process. Another major reason of deprivation is corruption as the worst affected sections of the society are peasants who do not receive education, healthcare facilities and other basic rights. Majority of patients of Hepatitis in Sindh are Haris. Ignorance and illiteracy is yet another characteristic in Sindh where 65 per cent of children are not going to schools. There is widespread violation of fundamental rights in Sindh.” He pointed out widespread prevalence of bonded labour, child labour and exploitation of women workers. Religious fundamentalism had increased in Sindh due to consequences of exploitation of labourers’ the rights, he added.