[Reader-list] Labour unions clamour for land reforms in Sindh

[Zulfiqar Shah]

Dear All: 
 
A press conference regarding land redistribution in Sindh, Pakistan was held at Karachi Press Club by Karamat Ali, PILER, Zulfiqar Shah, ISM, Suleman G. Abro, SAFWCO, Shehnaz Shidi, SAP PK, Mustafa Baloch, SPO, Punhal Saryo, SHPC, Ramzan Memon and Shaheena Memon, BHS, Mohammad Ali Shah, PFF and Jami Chandio of CPCS. Bellow is the published text: 
 
 
Labour unions clamour for land reforms in Sindh 
Zaib Azkaar Hussain

Sunday, January 08, 2012
 
The representatives of peasant bodies, labour unions, and civil society organizations have expressed gratitude over the legislation passed by members of the Punjab Assembly on land redistribution and are hoping for similar legislation to be passed in Sindh.

The representatives said that they “welcome the progressive legislation by the members of the Punjab Assembly which has contributed towards land redistribution”. 

The Punjab Conferment of Propriety Rights on Occupancy Tenants and Muqarraridars Act, 2011, was tabled for discussion on March 16, 2011, in the Punjab Assembly and was passed on December 22, 2011. 

The Act provides a legal framework for the redistribution of around 400,000 acres of state land to an estimated 200,000 peasants. Representatives of peasant bodies are confident that if the bill is implemented successfully, it would benefit a large number of landless peasantry that cultivates state land in Punjab.

The peasants and ‘Mazareen’ of Punjab have made great struggle against pro-landlord laws, which has finally resulted in a change of legislation. 

The representatives noted that the passing of this legislation was a victory for the movement that was launched by the Punjab’s peasantry and Mazaraeen. 

They mentioned that the peasants of Sindh have also long been struggling for their rights. Although the peasants’ movement in Sindh has a long history, in the recent past the problem has intensified. A grand conference of peasants was held on April 8, 2007, at Hitch, which was joined by thousands of peasants as well as representatives of the Government of Sindh and civil society organizations. 

The congregation unanimously adopted a joint declaration demanding appropriate legislation for peasants’ rights and called for amendments in the Sindh Tenancy Act (STA). The Government of Sindh responded by forming a committee led by MPA Anwar Mahar. The committee held meetings with various peasants’ bodies as well as civil society representatives to get suggestions for appropriate legislation. 

A set of amendments in the Sindh Tenancy Act was also created by a group of civil society organizations in consultation with peasants and their representatives in ten districts of the province. A series of mass agitations were also held by peasants in almost all districts of the province to demand amendments in the Sindh Tenancy Act in accordance with the draft submitted by the committee. 

Apart from meetings with individual MPAs of the Sindh Assembly, a collective meeting was also held with the Speaker and the Deputy-Speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Cabinet members, and a group of MPAs at the chamber of the Speaker, Sindh Assembly, where they were briefed about the proposed amendments in the Sindh Tenancy Act. 

Finally, a massive Sindh Peasants Long March was taken out from Hyderabad to Karachi, which mobilized over 30,000 peasants from various districts of Sindh. The peasants undertook 12 days of walk during February 2009 and held a sit-in in front of the Sindh Assembly on 26th February 2009. A Memorandum of Demands was presented to Ms. Shehla Reza, Deputy-Speaker Sindh Assembly, in the presence of the media, civil society representatives, as well as Mr. Anwar Mahar, head of the Sindh Assembly’s Committee on Tenancy Rights, MPA Farheen Mogul and other Maps. Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Ms. Sheila Reza and other legislators made a commitment to table a bill in the assembly for discussion. A related bill was tabled in the assembly in the following session. The assembly sought the input of the committee headed by Mr. Anwar Maher. The input by the committee was disappointing: not only did they reject the demands articulated in the amendments but they also
 suggested some retrogressive changes in the already obsolete tenancy act. 

Today, Pakistan faces a severe crisis of democratic space. The monopoly of power of big landlords and their alliance with a number of undemocratic forces acts as a key factor behind the underdevelopment that is plaguing the masses. This situation is also a catalyst for disparity and inequality in society. 

The representatives demanded of the Sindh Assembly and the local government to reiterate their commitment for the landless peasants regarding the distribution of state land and to initiate legislation on the matter. 

They further demanded an act along the pattern of the “Punjab Conferment of Propriety Rights on Occupancy Tenants and Muqarraridars Act, 2011” for Sindh that would grant lands to those who have been cultivating state land for generations in the deserted, hilly, and arid forest and Kacha areas. 

This also includes land that was in the possession of the irrigation, agriculture and railway departments and cultivated land that is occupied by the security forces. They also urged that information and records of all landholdings that currently lie with the state be made public and that land entitlements should be extended to settlers with no shelter, particularly to the womenfolk of the local communities.

The representatives asked the government not to issue leases of any state land to individuals who neither cultivated nor used the land for residential purpose. They believe that the landless peasantry of Sindh is living a life of slavery at the hands of powerful landlords. “The Sindh Tenancy Act, in its current shape, is unable to protect their basic rights, therefore, it should be reviewed and amended in the light of the demands made by peasants in a written Charter of Demand handed over to the Deputy Speaker of the Sindh Assembly on February 26, 2009,” the representatives concluded. 

The representatives announced to support a petition filed by a group representing civil society under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution which stressed the need for land reforms and also challenged an earlier ruling of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court that declared the land reforms introduced through regulations and legislation in 1972 and 1977 as being un-Islamic.

Daily The News, Karachi 
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=86441&Cat=4 
 
 
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Zulfiqar Shah
The Institute for Social Movements, Pakistan (Hyderabad)
Landline: +92 22 265 49 05
Mobile: +92 333 464 88 81
Skype: shahzulf
URL ISM: www.ismpak.org 
URL TSM: www.thesocialmovements.com