LAHORE: Mushtaq Mirani with his pepper gray hair and spectacles, looks exactly like a thinker. Presently serving as chairman and associate professor at Electrical Engineering Department at the Mehran University, Jamshoro, Sindh, Mirani has achieved much more as an individual, along with a reputation for being an outspoken critic of many issues that others would think twice of speaking against.
Recently, his work in inundated areas of Sindh and for sustainable land development and utilisation is commendable. He has also researched on rural poverty alleviation and most importantly water issues of Sindh. Born in Masuhab, a village near Larkana, in January 1955, Mirani completed his schooling from Larkana and then joined the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology.
He did his Masters in Economics and later went to study at the Asian Centre of the London School of Economics. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also studied at the same place.
Armed with significant academic degrees, Mirani started working in the food development sector, along with research work spread on a large spectrum, starting from economics to human rights and even about problems that Pakistanis faced. “My first study was about bonded labour in three districts of Sindh,” recalls Mirani.
“It was in fact the very first intensive study about bonded labour in the country. It was centered on haris in Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar,” he said. But perhaps Mirani’s most outspoken stance has been on the water issue between Sindh and Punjab.
“While the flood was more or less a natural calamity, the water conflict between these two provinces has been continuing since day one and I will say this openly. It is because authorities concerned in Punjab do not want to compromise over anything, except for what furthers their personal agenda,” Mirani said.
Water, he said, was not just limited to its agricultural or industrial need, although that was the most important thing for a failing economy. “Things have now come to be understood and now it’s become a human rights issue. Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have different needs of river water. But one province cannot just call its stakes and order others to believe that a particular dam which is known to be causing serious damages to the other two must be built!” he said.
Unfortunately, the Kalabagh Dam was an issue that the people of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have shouted slogans against since the time the project was suggested, he said. “Musharraf never released the study that was done regarding the water situation in Pakistan. Even the data that Sindh has and the data that Punjab has are different. So it becomes very difficult to control such a situation when there is a difference of data. That is the very first level,” the professor said.
Mirani explained that the water situation had done so much damage to rural areas that poverty had increased to a much higher level and day by day feudal power gained more control. “I have objected to share cropping from the beginning and I have on several occasions raised my voice against land reforms by Ayub Khan. A thousand acres for each landlord is a bit too much isn’t it?” he questioned rhetorically.
“Land reforms should be done again and this share cropping where the hari must pay 50 percent and share 50 percent of the outcome is just absolutely wrong. It may sound right but it ends up as being completely unjust in practical life,” Mirani said.
Because of the floods, peasants have nowhere to go. Rural to urban migration had increased but there was only so much an urban centre could take. In the end, peasants were indirectly bound to their landlord who capitalised on them with profits. “We have a severe distribution issue of water.
The Tarbela and Mangla dams have very low levels and now if Punjab is going to keep pressuring Sindh about the KBD, things will turn from bad to worse. Various unbiased researches have shown that if this is made Sindh will become dry and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will face a serious salinity problem,” he said. It was nothing personal nor should it be an ethnic issue, he said. But people of Sindh like all three provinces now distrust the Punjab government for not honouring its agreements.
“The Punjab government has the advantage of being the strongest province and throughout history it has cashed in on having the federal government within it, of having the army establishment within it, and also having the most water supply in any case as the five rivers run through it. It cannot have the cake and eat it too,” the professor said. Sindh’s people therefore, were slowly becoming heavily disillusioned. “How I see it, there is now a very strong movement within the province. Sindh before joining Pakistan, had signed an agreement and if their side of the agreement has not been met, then they have a right to reverse it. Already, Balochistan has been estranged, so why risk one more province?” he asked.
Mirani said solutions lie in accepting truths and facing history. “Before something really bad happens, why not just put an end to this constant battle? Sindh and Punjab are two provinces which are from the same route – the Indus Civilisation.
We should not make war like this over basic needs. I think regulation of barrages and dams needs to be addressed and at the same time there should be a computerised system of data unbiased in approach. True federalism should be the politico-economic system of the country, because presently what we have is a confused state, almost chaotic, with no real power centre. According to the 1940 Lahore Resolution, provinces should have autonomy in all issues, unlike what has been ordered by the 18th Constitutional Amendment,” he said.
Mirani said that the constitution was never even mentioned in the Lahore Resolution and this lack of autonomy was what had estranged provinces from Punjab. If the 1973 Constitution included basis of the Pakistan Movement, then matters would be resolved to a large extent, he said. “We depend upon each other. We should settle our conflicts amicably,” the professor said.
