March 19, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 15, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, March 18: Farmers have termed the prime minister’s recent remarks that no more land reforms would be introduced in future, a reflection of feudal mentality and an attempt to block social justice.

“This is unfortunate that the prime minister has categorically declared his anti-reform intentions in his first policy speech since assuming power,” said a member of the Kissan Board Pakistan.

Three per cent of landlords own more than 13 per cent of land in the country. These feudal lords are also given huge chunks of government land. One wonders how the prime minister could have claimed that there were neither big landlords nor big land holdings. This is either ignorance or sheer denial of the ground realities, he said.

“The last two attempts at land reforms failed miserably, and now the government has refused to make even an attempt,” said an official of the Agriculture Chamber. Martial law regulations in the late 50s set the tone but failed to make an effect. Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto tried and failed in the mid 70s. The overwhelming presence of big landlords in the government on both occasions hindered any progress on this front.

“Many small farmers have fallen victim to the tactics of landlords and increasing cost of the inputs and turned to agriculture labour,” claimed a farmer from South Punjab. The number of small farmers kept increasing because of the Islamic inheritance laws. Many of them sold their land and added to the wealth of the already big landlords.

“Progress means addressing the problems of the 40 per cent people at the bottom of the poverty graph rather than the top 10 per cent,” claimed a local economist. By blocking land reforms, the government would only strengthen the landlords and push the bottom 40 per cent further down the poverty graph. Should this happen, the country may face more social chaos. The government must not abandon the option of further land reforms or the social fabric of the country would come under more pressure, he maintained.

“In fact, the government is gearing up for corporate farming and land consolidation rather than splitting and distributing land through reforms,” claimed an official of the Farmers Associates of Pakistan. The option of further land reforms would create confusion for investors and scare them away. Precisely for this reason, the government has now decided to close the reform window and ensure a trouble-free atmosphere for the prospective investors, he added.