KARACHI: Peasants, workers and trade union leaders expressed their serious concerns over the Sindh government’s refusal to withdraw its application filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) against a 2019’s pro-peasant judgment passed by the Sindh High Court, at the launching ceremony of The State of Peasants’ Rights in Sindh in 2024 — Hari Welfare Association (HWA) annual report at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday.

The speakers noted that a former Sindh Minister for Agriculture, Ismail Rahu, had pledged in January 2020 that the provincial government would not pursue an appeal against the judgment. Yet, the government of Sindh continued pursuing it in 2024, which indicates a lack of concern for peasants’ rights and rural workers, and continuing anti-peasant policies that reinforce the feudal system.

Member (Sindh) National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Anis Haroon said that the Sindh government had initiated a scheme to distribute public land among landless women. But that scheme was abruptly abandoned.

Senior trade union leader Habibuddin Junaidi said that a pro-workers’ legislation had been made in Sindh. “All laws are made by following the tripartite mechanism,” he said, expressing his concern over the non-implementation of legislations.

Kazi Khizar of HRCP demanded to implement the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act as thousands of agriculture workers are languishing in private jails.

Lawyer Shazia Nizamani said that women agriculture workers face multiple challenges, hence a dire need to implement the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act in order to provide them social security and other benefits, guaranteed to them by law.

Academic and human rights activist Dr Riaz Sheikh said that a large number of workers are rendered jobless and there is no one to conduct a research on the impact of joblessness.

He feared that the reported beggars who are arrested in Gulf countries may be such jobless agriculture workers.

Nasir Mansoor of National Trade Union Federation opposed corporate farming and demanded to introduce land reforms and give land to landless peasants.

Labour Officer for the Sindh government Athar Shah said that district vigilance committees have been set up in each district of the province to monitor bonded labour.

President of HWA Akram Khaskheli said that the Sindh Tenancy Act, 1950, has been in place for 74 years, but the amendments made over the years, particularly in 2013, favoured landlords.

“The high costs of inputs and limited or no irrigation water have created serious issues for sharecropping peasants. The rules for the Sindh Bonded Labour System [Abolition] Act, 1992, were not notified in 2024. The draft rules remained with the Provincial Law Department and were accessible to the Provincial Home Department, but were not made publicly available,” Khaskheli said. He also highlighted that the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act (SWAWA), 2019, which aims to protect the rights and welfare of women agricultural workers in Sindh, has been passed but the rules for this law have not been passed thus this law is not being implemented.

The annual report also highlights that most members of the Sindh assembly are feudal lords or originate from feudal families, and that they are often misrepresented as agriculturalists and businesspersons.

As many as nine members are identified as agriculturalists and 23 as landlords. Many of the agriculturists are also landowners. Similar patterns are observed in the National Assembly, particularly among PPP members, where many are actual landowners, but their true professions are concealed.

A significant number of Sindh Provincial Assembly members represent feudal families, who form the core base of the PPP in Sindh.

Bonded labourers

In 2024, a total of 1,012 bonded labourers were released from the custody of landlords and brick kiln owners in the agriculture and brick kiln sectors in Sindh. Of these, 620 bonded labourers (children, women and men) were released from agriculture across various districts. Sanghar and Umerkot reported the highest numbers, with 194 and 206 individuals, respectively.

Also in 2024 alone, 392 bonded labourers were released from the brick kiln sector, with Umerkot (125) and Sanghar (85) being the districts with the highest releases.

Over 6.4 million children are out of school in Sindh, many engaged in severe child labour, depriving them of education, health and protection.

Out of 1.7 million bonded labourers, approximately 700,000 are children suffering inhumane conditions, mainly in agriculture.

The report also highlights that rural Sindh is heavily affected by bandit culture and crime. Hari leaders blame feudal lords and landowners for contributing to this issue, claiming they have destroyed Sindh’s agriculture sector, especially sharecropping peasants and farm workers.

HWA has also collected details of tribal conflict in Sindh and revealed that from October 1 to December 31, 2024, 88 murders and thousands of injuries occurred in approximately 60 reported cases. Shikarpur district had the highest number of murders (31), followed by Ghotki (12) and Kashmore (7). It shows that other districts, such as Sukkur, Larkana and Khairpur, reported lower numbers of murders (6-8), while Naushero Feroze, Jamshoro and Dadu had fewer incidents (3-4).

The HWA raised concerns about the significant impact of tribal conflicts on the agriculture sector, especially affecting peasants (sharecroppers) and rural workers who rely on communal land use and labour, which are disrupted by the ongoing feuds and violent clashes.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025