Adnan Qaiser
Real democracy has yet to arrive in Pakistan. Rather than “issue-driven,” Pakistan’s “cult/personality oriented” and “patronage-ridden” politics does not truly represent people’s aspirations.[iii] Due to societal class difference and a polarized/fragmented populace only a handful of elites have always held and shared power.
Since its birth in August 1947, the country has been revolving in the hands of feudal landlords, tribal Sardars, mega-industrialists, senior civil servants and generals, who remain connected through intermarriages having their kins posted at important positions in the superior civil services, police and military to protect their interests. Pick any feudal family only to find its members present in all the opposing political parties of Pakistan, constantly changing loyalties, only to stay in perpetual power.
Since it had not been in the interest of the feudal elites, neither proper land reforms could be introduced in the country[iv] – like those instituted by India’s first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, in 1949/1972,[v] or Japan’s Meiji Restoration and Modernization in 1868[vi] – nor state institutions given any autonomy.
Civil administration and police, therefore, remain subservient to their political masters. So much so, Pakistan continues to be administered through the age-old British Colonial system of district management, land revenue collection, forestry and irrigation[vii] for it serves the interests of feudal class, who occupy the parliament and provincial legislatures and don’t feel obliged to properly pay taxes on their large agricultural properties and its income.
While some governments in Pakistan tried to impose agricultural tax twice – in 1959 and 1972 respectively – the exercise remained futile due to:
1) One, the imposition of restriction was levied on “individual holdings” – and not on “family possessions.” Consequently, the feudal landlords got their large agricultural properties transferred to their heirs (extended family members) and trustable Haris (land tillers on 99 year lease)
2) Secondly, the reforms of 1959 and 1972 had been repealed by Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court on August 10, 1989 finding them “un-Islamic;” thus making Pakistan politically and socially servile to its feudal/landed aristocracy[viii]
The lack of proper land reforms in the country resulted into four things:
1) Lower crop productivity: As the feudal landlord never bothers about country’s food security or self-sufficiency
2) Selective crop cultivation: Devouring large quantities of (scarce) water resource but fetching handsome profits from crops such as sugarcane (for sugar’s export purpose)
3) “Warabandi:” Unequal water volume distribution based on size of the agricultural land. Thus, small farmers receive inadequate water supply as against feudal landlords while a lot of precious water gets wasted into the sea, and
4) Socio-economic imbalance in the country: Due to income disparity and prevalence of an elitist culture, unsurprisingly, Pakistan remains prone to increased crime, terrorism, and frustrated unemployed youth
Resultantly, ranking 92nd out of 116 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2021 neither is Pakistan food secure, nor food self-sufficient.[ix]
While IMF arm-twists Pakistan’s government on reforms, it is imperative to insist upon instituting proper “land reforms” too to end Pakistan’s “social apartheid.”
That, however, would remain a far cry because the military generals, who are awarded large agricultural chunks of land as their “service benefit,” stay silent on the issue and the political elite would never let a reform bill pass through the parliament.
If destiny is choice, and not chance; then Pakistan’s economic future continues to stay bleak.
Adnan Qaiser is an international affairs expert having served in the armed forces and international diplomacy. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Tweets @adnanqaiser01