FEUDALISM has remained a hot topic of the debate in the country from its very inception. Attempts were made by successive governments to dilute the predominate sway that feudalism held on every aspect of national institutions.

Ayub sliced the land holding from thousands owned by each feudal family to 500 for irrigated and 1000 for unirrigated. Bhutto brought it down to 150 for irrigated and 300 for unirrigated but these land reforms that have little impact and practical implementation have never seen the light of day.

The failure of land reforms and abolition of feudalism are common knowledge in Pakistani discourse. A major reason is that landlords control, mostly forcefully, a solid vote bank of their peasants and have transformed themselves by penetrating in politics, industry and civil and military bureaucracy.

In politics they join each ruling party and thus dominate the houses of parliament and hinder any legislation against their interest.

If some watered-down legislation is passed with the effort of civil society, it is usually killed at the implementation level. Sons, nephews and close relatives or big landlords occupying top bureaucratic positions never implement any anti-feudal legislation, including land reforms.

A minister on a TV channel struggling to clarify the government's position on the MQM bill said that the PPP would neither oppose nor support the bill.

They condemned the feudal system but will only support the MQM when it succeeds in clearing the bill from the federal Shariat Court which had earlier declared it un-Islamic.

The message from the feudal community is clear they would condemn their own system to grab peasant votes but would use all resources at their disposal to protect and defend feudalism.

GULSHER PANHWER
Johi