HYDERABAD, Sept 23: Leaders of different political parties and rights activists have called for an end to feudal and tribal systems to strengthen democracy and ensure people have equal rights in society.

They were speaking at a one-day seminar on the “Responsibility of political parties for eliminating jagirdari” (feudalism) held at the local press club on Friday. It was organised by Shakeel Pathan Memorial Society to mark the 8th death anniversary of the noted rights activist.

Veteran politician Mairaj Mohammad Khan paid rich tribute to the late Shakeel Pathan and said that feudal lords, exploitative forces and military generals had maintained a firm grip on the country.

Pakistan was created for providing people a secure place but they had not even have their lawful rights and had to run from pillar to post to get basic facilities of education, health and drinking water, he regretted.

Mr Khan said that late Pathan did not sell his conscience and continued struggle for the rights of bonded haris. He said that he had dissociated himself from late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when he found him supping with feudal lords at a time when his popularity was at its peak.

He said that the feudal mindset had penetrated deep into society. The country’s defence could not be strengthened by holding parades on September 6. Those who thought the US was a friend of Pakistan were simply daydreaming, he said adding that the US wanted to weaken Pakistan and would miss no opportunity to break it up.

He said that Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder and army operation in Balochistan had brought together Balochs which was unprecedented but the people who were demanding their rights were being called traitors.

Mr Khan said that Sindh contributed 70 per cent of revenue but it received nothing, not even the port’s royalty. If MMA parliamentarians quit the Balochistan government people would never forget their sacrifice, he said.

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal MNA Asadullah Bhutto said that the feudal system was largely responsible for women’s problems in Sindh and the rest of the country.

Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi paid glowing tributes to late HRCP activist and said that the existing political system had made feudal lords more powerful because there were forces which believed in maintaining status quo.

The feudal lords were sitting in parliament and in bureaucracy to protect their vested interests. There would be no true democracy until people were rid of the feudal system, he said.

He said that the feudal lords cared less about what Punjab was doing to smaller provinces but they were free to enslave people. Manu Bheel’s case was the latest example of their hold on administration that despite efforts by human rights activists and Supreme Court, Bheel’s family members remained missing to date, he said.

The Sindh president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), Zain Ansari, said that people were real rulers of the country and the feudal system would not come to an end until the poor got stronger. Only true democracy could resolve their problems, he added.

Nasreen Shakeel Pathan said that existing system did not support the individual’s rights because feudal lords continued to dominate the administrative and political scene. MQM’s coordination committee member, Waseem Aftab, also spoke on the occasion.

The seminar adopted several resolutions demanding liberation of millions of bonded haris and estimated that around 1.7 million haris were in bondage in Sindh alone who needed rehabilitation and soft loans to earn their livelihood.

Praising initiatives taken by Supreme Court for the release of Manu Bheel’s family, the resolution called for the appointment of a judicial commission to ensure release of other bonded haris.

It said that the apex court should ensure payment of Rs1 million to Manu Bheel and allotment of 16 acres of cultivable land.

The resolution warned kiln owners to refrain from implicating labourers in false cases and urged the judiciary to get an inquiry conducted before passing orders on kiln owners’ applications.

It called upon people and true human rights activists to mount pressure on the government to ban tribal system in the wake of high court’s verdict.

Another resolution demanded better medical facilities for prisoners in jails who it said were always neglected even in the government’s health policies.

It asked the government to raise a separate jail police tasked with producing prisoners in time before trial courts.

The resolution demanded that the signatories of charter of democracy incorporate in the charter a point calling for elimination of feudal system.

The ruling and opposition parties should play their due role in this regard so that people could get their rights, it urged.