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It was very active until the partition of India in 1947.However, this movement could not increase its influence andmembership in the Muslim dominated areas of the Western and theSouthern Punjab.In Pakistan, the gap of inequality created byfeudalism has badly influenced the political and social systems inseveral ways, promoting violence and intolerance in the political

culture of Pakistan. After the partition, the problems of the peasantswere neglected by the federal and provincial Governments. As aresult of the deprivation faced by the rural community of Punjab,the revolutionary movement was bound to start. The Punjab PeasantMovement, with the help of Punjab Kissan Committee played aremarkable role to free the peasantry from landlords. It faced severeconfrontation from the government as well as the landlords, whoseinterests were to suffer. The Peasants of the Punjab were notproperly organized, class conscious, trained and guided in a suitablemanner.

The Foundation of the MovementAfter the establishment of Pakistan, Ch. Atta Ullah Jahania

was appointed as the first Muslim General Secretary of PKC for thetask of increasing the influence and membership of PKC in theseareas. He, in spite of having a successful track record of organizingsuch movements, failed to increase the membership of the Muslimin PKC. As explained by Abid Hassan Minto, the wide influence ofthe Muslim landlords was a big problem in mobilizing the Muslimpeasant.

363But after the division of Punjab includes many other

363 Interview with Abid Hassan Minto (April 04, 2008). Abid Hassan Minto wasborn in 1932 in Rawalpindi in a well-educated Kashmiri family. He started his

efforts for the promotion of leftist ideology from the plateform of DemocraticStudents Federation in 1949s its co-founder and in the same year he acceptedmembership of Communist Party of Pakistan. His role in Progressive WritersAssociation (a leftwing literary organization established in 1936) is worthremembering in literary circles. He closely worked with Kissan Committeesand veteran leftwing Kissan leader Ch. Fateh Muhammad. He made his mark intrade unions as well. He has successfully organized many processions andprotests of workers from the leftwing plateform. He was arrested many times.He bravely ignored all the offers of the Govt. at various stages. He took activepart in organizing Railway workers with famous trade union leader MirzaIbrahim. As lawyer he got fame by winning cases of very great importance inPakistan. He has attended many national and international conferences.


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reforms in their speeches and writing and supported feudalism in thecountry.

The interesting point is that Moulana Abdul Majid Badayunia famous Muslim scholar along with 16 other (Muslim religiousleaders) and scholars issued a Fatwa

368 declaring the Notes of

Dissent by Muhammad Masood Khadar Poush (1916-1985)369

as

un-Islamic. The fatwa was later distributed throughout the countryby Zulifqar Ali Bhuttu (1928-1979)

370published to win the favours

and sympathies of peasants371

and tenants372

during the generalelections of 1970.373

After the partition, the problems of the peasants wereneglected by all provincial Governments. The topmost demand ofthe peasants was the distribution of lands. The land reforms werethe crying need of the time particularly in interior Sind and SouthernPunjab. The peasants and agricultural laborers were purchasedamong landlords as a commodity. These landlords had many private

368Religious opinion of a certified jurist(Mufti) about the legality of an action

under Muslim Law.369

Masood Khadar posh, A former Beaurocrate who was appointed as a

member of the inquiry commission constituted by Sindh Govt. to look into theproblems of Haris in Sindh. Mr. RajorThomus an English Landlord of Sindhwas appointed as president. Mr. M.A Siddiqe a local feudal along with Mr.MasudKhadarposh represented Govt. side. Mr. Masood later on served asdeputy commissioner DistrictMuzafarGarh. He drafted a 39 pages Notes ofDissent, in the report prepared by the commission which was presented to theGovt. of Sindh. The amazing point is that no representation was given to theHaris for whom welfare this commission was constituted. Being a Govt.officer Mr. Masood advocated for the Haris demands.

370 Former Foreign Minister, President, Civilian Chief Martial LawAdministrator, Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan Peoples Party. He gotfame for his socialist political ideas.

371 Agriculture labour.372 Somebody who rents properties for cultivation purpose.373 In these elections for the first time after the birth of Pakistan (1947) the

people of the country were given the right to vote on one man one vote basisduring the reign of a Military dictator Gen. Yahya Khan. The amazing resultsof these elections proved a turning point in the history of Pakistan and resultedin the separation of East Pakistan under the leadership of Mujeeb-ur-Rehman,the leader of Awami League in 1971.


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prisons to punish the peasants especially in Southern Punjab. Therape of peasants women by the landlords and the police was acommon practice in the province. Punjab has always been a place ofsmall independent villages where people dwelled in their ownagrarian way of life in the past. The waters of the five riversirrigated its fertile lands, providing a stable means of livelihood.

However, this prosperity invariably proved to be a liability whenpeace and tranquility was shattered by arbitrary occupation of landsand pulling out its indigenous masses form their right of land andproperty. During that time, some brave Punjabis rose and fought fortheir land.

The Punjab peasantry of the rural area had to face manyproblems. For achieving their land-rights, the peasants had tostruggle hard in the rural Punjab, particularly in Multan, Montgomry(Now Sahiwal), Bahawalpur (former Princely State), D.G. Khan,Shahpur (former District and now a Tehsil of District Sargodha),Gujranwala, Gujrat, Lyllpur (Faisalabad), Lahore,

Rawalpindi,CambelPur (Now Attock), Jhang and Mianwali. Afterthe partition, the peasants mobilized struggle for their rights in thewhole province. Their demands for social, economic an agrarianfreedom was an open secret. The downtrodden peasants of thePunjab wanted to get freedom from the unfair land policies andfrom the bondage of feudal landlords.374

The Punjab Peasant Movement through its component part,the Punjab Kissan Committee, played a remarkable role to free thepeasantry from landlords. The district level committees of the ruralPunjab launched an organized movement throughout the Punjab.They rebelled against the existing social and economic inequalities

374 Interview with Abdul Rauf Malik in 2008 at Peoples Publishing House

Kissan Hall, Lahore. He was born in 1926 and joined CPP in early age.When Peoples Publishing House was established for the publishing ofRadical Literature at Lahore, he was appointed its organizer by theleadership of communist party. He was a close companion of syed SajadZaheer;founder of communist party of Pakistan. He was arrested many times.He had published many books and wrote many articles against Feudalism. Hetook active part in many strikes of workers and peasants in the West Punjab.Nowadays he is a director of Peoples Publishing House. He is the brother offamous left wing writer Abdullah Malik.


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and injustices. They wanted to lay the foundations of a new socialand economic order for the peasants of Punjab

375. As a result of the

deprivation faced by the rural community of Punjab, therevolutionary movement was bound to start. This process startedwith the formation of Kissan Committee of Pakistan. Thiscommittee was known by the name of Pakistan Kissan Committee.

Organized struggle and peasant movement in the rural Punjabreceived a considerable motivation and support from the classeswho were deprived of their basic rights, and were suppressedeconomically. In this way the PKC got momentum in almost alldistricts of the province.376

In the post independence period, Anti feudal peasantmovements got a new momentum. There was wide spread agrarianunrests during 1948-50. However, this unrest did not bring anyradical change in the system. The failure of peasant movement wasdue to the illusion that the peasants wanted the Islamic Justice asthis slogan had raised by Muslim League during freedom

movement. Therefore, they did not make any collective effort andkept on working on regional level. As Kissan Committee in EastBengal, the KissanGirga in NWFP, the KissanSabha in the Punjaband the Harri committee in Sindh were in provinces. As Kissan

375Interview with Ch. Fateh Muhammad (May 2008) from 5-Meckloard Road

Punjab Kissan Committee Office, Lahore. Ch. Fateh Muhammad is recentlysettled in UK is a veteran leftwing Marxist Kissan leader and Trade unionistleader of Pakistan. He was born in village Chaherka near Jalander (EastPakistan) in 1925. after partition he settled in Toba Tek Sing near Lyllpur inthe west Punjab. He joined CPP in 1948 and started to organize peasants and

workers for the protection their rights. He was arrested many times and kept invarious jails and cells. He also contested Punjab Provincial AssemblyElections in 1951. when CPP was outlawed in 1954, he joined Azad PakistanParty of MianIftikhar-ud-Din. In the period of Ayub Khan first MilitaryDictator (1958-69) of Pakistan, he had successfully organized Peasant RightsConferences against Feudalism in Pakistan. In this regard Kissan Conferenceof 1970 in Toba Tek Sing is worth mentioning which was attended by 3 lakhPeasants and workers from all over the contry. On October 18, 2011, he wasawarded Faiz Award in London in recognition of his life long struggle againstFeudalism, Imperialism and Militarinism

376Ferozud Din Mansoor, Constitution of Kissan committees in the Punjab,Lahore, nd, p 3-11


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Movement was regionally organized Govt. could handle themeasily.

377

After independence, during the first six years of the peasantmovement, it again had to face severe repression at the hands of theGovernment. Afraid of the tempo of the growing revolutionarymovement, Govt. unleashed repression making the functioning of

various Kissan Committees impossible. In spite of this thefoundation was set in terms of creation of different peasantorganizations and their massive support from the masses.Subsequently various Governments were forced to take measures ofland reforms such as ceiling legislations, security of tenure and rentreduction, consolidation of holding etc, but all failed to fulfill thedeclared objectives. On the other hand the period witnessed a large-scale eviction offensive throwing millions of tenants into theposition of agricultural workers.

The peasant movement in rural and urban Punjab made a bigimpact on the masses not only in the Punjab province but also in

other provinces. Hundreds of thousands of peasants actually joinedthe struggle for the peasants rights in the province for defendingtheir lands and crops.

Peasant movement attained wider popularity in Punjab.Millions of peasants all over the province unleashed anunprecedented struggle with the backing of the communist party ofPakistan for recovering benami land for possession and distributionof surplus lands, for loans in kind and for checking hoarding andblack-marketing. In this period, more than three lakh acres of landwere taken over and distributed among the landless through villagelevel committees. Many peasants lost their lives in the battles fought

on this issue, but it gave a big impetus to the Kissan movementsspread in all districts.378

377Interview with HussainNaqi. A veteran leftwing Student Leader, journalist and

human right activist recently associated with HRCP Lahore as National Co-coordinator.

378Recorded Interview with RazaKazim Advocate. He is a famous leftwing

political leader in Punjab, born in 1930. He joined Communist Party ofPakistan in at early age in 1948. He took very active part in Railway WorkersTrade Union with Mirza Ibrahim. His services in the establishment of KissanCommittee in rural areas of the province are remarkable. He imported many


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In the Punjab, the peasants conducted a stat-wide movementfor agrarian legislation and debt-relief legislation, for the rights onGovernment lands against threat of central intervention. As a resultof the campaign some serious measures from the Government side,in the shape of relief in revenues, and release of lands for the poorpeasants or landless farmers were ensured and were distributed

among them. The ceiling was revised downwards, many family-based exemptions were withdrawn and hut-dwellers were givenrights on land on which they lived. Tens of thousands of agriculturallabourers conducted powerful and successful struggle for betterwages and living conditions. Peasants from far off places joined themeeting and adopted resolutions for the abolition of Zamindarisystem without compensation, participation of the local peasantcommittees in collection of government revenues and procurementof food grains.

379

First Kissan Conference was organized by Chaudhry FatehMuhammad, a member of communist party of Pakistan, in Toba

Tak Singh in 1948, in Chak 305 J.B. It was attended by thousandsof Kissan from all over Punjab. Later on the communist party ofPakistan organized its efforts and from very beginning it had startedto make contacts and linkages with its workers all across the countryin all provinces (including East Pakistan). They carried out differentconferences in Punjab, Sindh and in the Frontier (KPK) province.

Peasants from rural and urban areas of all across theprovince participated in this conference. It was also decided that thecommittees should be formed at district levels, so this gave a newdimension to the peasant movement in the Punjab and peasants

films from Russia to promote cultural relations between two countries. He wasarrested many time in factitious cases. In Zias Military rule (1977-88) he wasdeclared as Master Mind in Attock Conspiracy Case in 1984. It was alleged bythe intelligence Agencies that some lower rank officers had made a plan toover through sentenced life lone prison. He is also the founder of theSanjanNaagar Institute of Philosophy and Arts (SIPA) ____A Non-profitorganization working in the fields of Philosophy, Music and Philosophy basedin Lahore. He has published many articles and pamphlets against Ziadictatorship.

379A report by Ch. Fateh Muhammad, Pakistan Agriculture Problems and Kissan

Movement, in Socialist Party Publications, No 3, Peshawar, 1975, p.4


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organizations/ committees at districts level were formed in differentparts of the Punjab. Local peasant organizations organized theirefforts against the Batai 380and illegal taxes. Meetings andconferences were arranged to discuss the issue and to decide aconcrete frame work for the abolition of these unjustified practices.This proved very significant. It insisted that the share of Betai

should be distributed among the landlords and peasants in equalterms and in the fields.

During the same period of time, in the wake of volatilesituation created by the land reforms, to address the permanentsettlement of peasants the Kissan Committee realized theimportance of state of affairs and the role of Kissan Committee. Forthis reason, on July 14-15, 1952 a meeting of revolutionary peasantworkers was convened, under the chairmanship of Syed AmirHussain MPA from Gujrat continued for two days. A largeprocession of Kissans was organized by GhulamNabiBhullarpresident of Azad Pakistan party of Gujranwala.

Following these events, the political struggle amongdifferent political parties reached its heights for the upcomingelections. On the other hand the peasantry organization alsoconcentrated their efforts to raise their voices at national level, andwas convinced that the upcoming government will definitely bringsome new changes for the betterment of peasantry in Pakistan, butthe things were not so different from the past.

Initially, the membership was made in two differentcategories; i.e. collective and individual level. At individual level,the poor and middle class peasants, tenants laborers and villageartisans were subject to the membership of Primary Committee.

Every member was directed to fill a form and pay annualsubscription. Besides those falling under the above categories,persons representing other classes in special cases were consideredfor membership. In such cases the membership was valid for oneyear only. While in the second category- agricultural laborers andmiddle class Kissans- incorporated in a guild or some other

380Batai is a system of the distribution of the crops at the time of yield its ratio is

fixed by the land owners and the farmers in the beginning of sowing season.


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organization were given the membership on payment of one annaper anum.

381

The organization of the committee in a village in whichthere were fifteen members a separate village Kissan Committeewas set up. But the status of such a committee was not the same asthat of primary committee. While there were hundred members, a

primary committee may be constituted as ZailKissan Committee:provided that all members belonged to Zail.

382If the members were

less than a hundred in any one Zail, the Committee would go by thename of Thana Committee. If there were more than a hundredmembers in any one Tehsil, the committee so constituted would bedesignated as a Tehsil Committee, a primary committee maycomprise of individual or organizational members. Each primarycommittee used to elect one representative for every 100 membersto the General Council of the District committee. The electionswould take place at the annual meeting of the Primary committee ondates fixed for the event and were proposed by the Provincial

Committee. To maintain the transparency in the elections, theelections were supervised by the two representatives deputed by theDistrict Kissan Committee.383

The annual meeting of the General Council of the Districtcommittees were held at a specified dates by the provincialcommittee, in which the Executive committee and the office holderswere to be elected in the presence of representative of the ProvincialCommittee. For every 500 members it would send onerepresentative to the West Pakistan Council. Where there were 500members, the District Committee would elect 10 representatives.384

The process of formation of Kissan Committees was started

at a very critical time in the West Punjab. The settlements ofrefugees and matters of Evacuee property left by the Hindus and theSikhs created serious troubles while the atrocities of the landlordsforced the tenants, workers and peasants to unite themselves for thesafeguarding of their rights in the province. The workers and

381Ibid, pp 12382 It was an administrative unit headed by Zaildar under British rule in the

Punjab.383 Ferozud Din Mansoor, Opit. Cit, p 17-18384 Ibid


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members of communist party took this initiative and started to unitepeasants and workers in the province. The constitution of the Punjabkissan provincial committees was drafted by Feroz-ud-Din Mansoor(1903-1959)385, Abdul GhaniQureshi386 and SyedMutalabiFareedAbadi

387on April 4, 1949 at Lahore. The object of

the Kissan Committees was to free poor peasants,

agriculturerlabourers, tenants and artisans form political andeconomic exploitations of feudals, jagirdars

388 and capitalists by

forging a common front. According to the constitution all land willbe distributed among the tillers and all key industries nationalized.The main objective of this organization was to create free, strong,prosperous and democratic republic of Pakistan, guaranteeing

385Ferozuddin Mansur was born in 1903 in Shaikupura, West Punjab. He had to

migrate to Afghanistan in the Hijrat Movement in 1920. He received hisRevolutionary education and training from Moscow. He worked for Peasantsand Workers in various capacities and was arrested many times. He worked

with all leftwing parties and groups striving for the rights of workers andpeasants. He was among founding fathers of the Communist Party of India.After 1947, he became the first Secretary of Communist Party in West Punjab.He was arrested many times. He was elected General Secretary of CommunistParty of Pakistan in 1950. He was the leading theoretician of the CPP. Hewrote many articles and pamphlets on various issues. His self criticism reportis worth mentioning in which he has critically examined the role of CPP andits leadership. He died in 1959. He was deeply disappointed by thebeaurocratic attitude of the members of CPP. Inspite of all, he played his rolesuccessfully for the promotion of Leftist idealogy till last breath.

386 He was very famous leader of the communist party of India.387 Syed Mutalabi Fareedabadi blonged to a noble family of Faridabad (India).

He was born in 1893. He received his early education from Faridabad andLahore. Later on, he was appointed as Zaildar and Honorary Magistrate. He

joined Tabligh campaign but soon fed up. He joined Communist Party ofIndia in 1930s. He organized Mewati Peasants against the Maharaja of Alwerstate in 1933-34. He also organized trade union and Kissan Committees in thePunjab. He also joined Congress Party. He came in Pakistan in 1948 andplayed a leading role in Pakistan Socialist Party. He was a pioneer of peasantspoetry in Punjab. He authored a drama Kissan Rutt in which he depictedoperations of Money lenders in Punjab. He also published a poem, Pin Hariin which he described the suffering of the peasants. Famous poem HAYYAHAYYA soon became the symbolic slogan of all the Kissan agitation in theprovince of Punjab. He died in 1978.

388 Big Landlordship established under British colonial rule in India.


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absolute and complete civil liberties.389For this purpose a provincialcommittee under the president ship of Abdul Aziz Qaiser was setup. Muhammad Shareef was appointed its General Secretary and inother areas of the province district committees were formulated.

All these committees in their respective areas organizedprocessions and held meetings throughout the province. In towns

and small villages, Kissan cells were established like the district ofMultan.

390

In the provincial elections of 1951 many candidatescontested elections on behalf of Kissan committees in almost alldistricts of the province but failed to win even a single seat due tofeudals grip and government repression. However, it could beconsidered a good attempt in such circumstances on behalf ofKissan committees.

Establishment of Pakistan Kissan Front

After the ban on the Punjab Peasant Movement, the AzadPakistan Party organized the Kissan movement in Punjab. Kissanfront was established in 1955 by the Kissan movement for theimmediate solution of the problems of the peasants. All theprogressive political parties of the country were invited toparticipate. Its office was set up in Royal Park Lahore. WeeklyEkdam of Mian Muhammad Shafi391published various articleshighlighting Kissan issues and efforts of Kissan front in the criticalperiod of struggle in Province.

This Kissan Movement in1956 was continued under thebanner of the National Jamhauri Party, as a meeting was organized

outside the Mochi Gate Lahore. Police reached the spot andencircled peasants since there was a ban on processions under thesection 144 in the province. Forty-six leaders of peasants werearrested but they continued their struggle. The Govt. responded

389Working condition of Agriculture Labor in Punjab, A survey Report, National

Commission for Justice and Peace-Catholic Relief Services Pakistan, 2002, p23.

390Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed,Johd-Musalsal, Lahore The Jang Publications.

391 A well known political leader of the Punjab. He took active part in the PunjabPolitics.


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positively offering facilities under Ejected Tenants Scheme andGrow More Food Schemes to the peasants in the province.

392

The land reforms of 1959 were the culmination of thecontinued struggles of the peasants in the province during 1947-56.

Struggle and Contribution of Peasant Politics in thePunjabOne of the important features of the peasant organization of

the Punjab was the policies which proved to be the symbol of unityof the peasants with the workers. It happened during 1952, when there-grouping and re-structuring of peasant organizations n the Punjabwas going on. Formation of Kissan Committees of Punjab wasinitiated in this meeting. Later on this committee merged with thenewly formed Azad Pakistan Party. The period between 1950s and1960s witnessed the emergence and consolidation of many politicalgroups and economic classes. In agriculture, the hold of the large

landowners may not have been broken, but it was certainly shakenenough to allow other economic categories to emerge.

393

In the decade following the creation of Pakistan, the politicalpower of the very large landlords increased. For example, very largelandlords won 80 percent of the seats in the 1951 provincial electionin Punjab. At the same time, the economic power of large landlordsalso increased substantially. In 1950, approximately 6,000 Landowners (who constituted a tiny 0.1 percent) owned 15 percent of allland in Pakistan. At the same time, the poorest 64.4 percent of thepopulation owned another 15 percent, approximately, of all land inPakistan. In other words, the richest 0.1 percent landlords had as

much economic power as the poorest 64.4 percent. The richest 1percent owned nearly 1/3 of land in Pakistan. In Punjab, fewer than2,000 Land owners owned approximately 10 percent of the land.394

The area of the Punjab was not only the area that became abattle field of peasant struggle for the protection of their rights, the

392 Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed, Opit. Cit. p238393

Hafiz Taqi-ud-Din, Pakistan Ki SiasiJamatainAurTehrikian, Lahore, The

Classic 1995, p 307.394Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed, Opit. Cit. p239


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situation in other provinces of the country regarding PeasantMovement was also worth mentioning.

The most important of these struggles was the heroicstruggle of the Bengal peasantry against the imposition of thebetterment levy tax in the late 50s. This was the most importantstruggle under the flag of the Kissan Sabha after the epoch-making

Telengana struggle. The peasants defied firings, lathi-charges,beatings and all types of repression. The peasant unity forged duringthe struggle was unparalleled, as the peasants united irrespective oftheir political affiliations. The movement ultimately forced theGovernment to withdraw from different unjustified and illegalregulations. These struggles achieved important gains and helped inraising the political consciousness of the peasantry. It was becauseof these peasant organizations and their association heldconferences that the movement was able to face serious repressionin the shape of mass arrests, injuring of hundreds of poor peasantsetc. They fought back the repression and defended their interest.395

It was the voice of their hearts as these were the rationaldemands on the part of peasants and workers. For the realization ofthese demands, they launched a collective movement in Punjab. Thegovernment responded and presented Daultana Report tocompensate peasants in Punjab. According to the report, in theprovince, farming is very common. Approximately more than agrarian lands are cultivated on the system of division of production(Batai). Generally, the share of tenant is 50%. In real sense, it is not50% but it was formerly considered to be so.

Feudalism: A Challenge to Peasant Struggle

The state of Pakistan had been controlled by narrow elite.Major stakeholders in the state business, agricultural sector and theindustries have been feudal Lords. They played an authoritative rolein the affairs of the state. Since 1947, the feudal class haddominance over the provincial and federal Assemblies. It hasdominated party politics in the country. The feudal class wasextremely conservative, oppressively status-quo-oriented, and, in

395Abid Hassan Minto, Optic. Cit.


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nearly all cases it was totally resistant to change. At least on thelocal level, the worst and the most coercive form of feudalismreflected itself in the treatment of tenants, peasants and labor class(low-caste professionals and artisans), women and otherdependents.

396The British were always on the back of the feudals

who always supported them in their vested interests. The feudals

owed their prominence to the British who had granted land in returnfor loyalty and support.

In Pakistan, the gap of inequality created by feudalism hadbadly influenced the political and social systems more than theloyalties to Islam and community. Three types of impacts offeudalism on society are visible in Punjab. Firstly, a largeproportion of agricultural population remained remarkably non-political. Secondly, the feudalistic style of politics and power haspromoted violence and intolerance in the political culture inPakistan. Thirdly, because of the dominance of landlords on thepolitics, the political parties of Pakistan have changed into a one-

man show. And the shifting of political loyalties is also the result ofthe control of landlords on politics.

397These feudal always opposed

land reforms and all other efforts regarding the betterment of thepeasants in the Constitutional Assembly of Pakistan and theProvincial Assembly of the Punjab. These feudal have always givena tough time to all those, who voiced for the welfare of peasantryand labor in Pakistan.

The Agrarian Reforms

Pakistan has had a long and varied history of land reforms.Many attempts have been taken without any serious purpose, and

most of them failed.398The first step in this regard was taken y theMuslim League Government in East Pakistan. The Muslim League

396Lawrence Ziring, Pakistan in the 20

th Century, A Political Studies, Oxford

1997, p 20.

397Lawrence Ziring, Pakistan in the 20th Century, A Political Studies, Oxford

1997, p 20.398

Zaidi S, Akbar, Issue in Pakistans Economy, Oxford University Press,

Karachi, 2000. p 27.


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passed the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act in 1950and with one radical step the ceiling of land holding was fixed at 33acres only and the tenants were given security of tenure, sublettingand absentee landlords were forbidden. The land and water taxeshad remained as high as under the British rule. Furthermore, thegovernment levied a tax for the benefit of refugees in the shape of

12.5 percent increase on the land and water taxes399. The taxincrease was followed by an increase in rents.

The 1950 Punjab Tenancy Amendment & Punjab Protectionand Protection of Tenure & rights Ordinance 1950 were enforced inPunjab after the approval of the legislative assemblies. But thegovernment and the landlords lobby started a systematic repressionand launched actions against any movement that did not spring fromthe vital economic needs and desires of the people.400During thatparticular period of time, in early 1950s provincial governmentstried to abolish some of the malinger landlords or rent collectors,but they met little success in this task. On the one hand there was a

tendency on the part of the landlords to evict sharecroppers and totake up direct cultivation with wage labour and, on the other, therich and the better-off middle peasants were trying to increase theircultivated holdings by renting land. The feudalism remained theroot cause of Pakistans malaise; it has appeared in differentforms.401The landlords by the virtue of their ownership and controlof such a vast amounts of land and human resource, were powerfulenough to influence the distribution of water, fertilizers, tractorpermits and agriculture credit and consequently exercised

399 Ibid.400

Abid Hassan Minto, Opit. Cit.401Mian Iftikhar-ud-Din speech to the National Assembly of Pakistan on 13

February 1957. He was born in Lahore in a rich Arian family in 1907. He wasvery active leader of leftwing. He started his political career from the platefrom of Congress till 1946 when he joined Muslim League and was offeredthe portfolio of Federal Minister For Rehabilitation of Refugees. In 1949, hedemanded Radical land Reforms in Punjab. Consequently, he resigned fromhis Ministry and finally he was expelled from party. He established AzadPakistan Party in 1950. He was also the owner of famous Paper The PakistanTimes which always favoured social justice and Agrarian Reforms in thecountry. Finally the progressive papers were taken over by Ayubs MilitaryGovt. He died in 1962.


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Book Review: Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Ellen Bal, & OscarSalesmink (Eds),A World of Insecurity: AnthropologicalPerspectives on Human Security. London & New York:

Pluto Press, 2010. Pages 300, and price US$ 33.

In today globalized world, States shall be measured through

their level of human security they provide to their people. We canhypothesize that more the higher the level of human security, themore the popularity and the stability of the Government. On theother, we can safely hypothesize that the more higher the level ofhuman insecurity, the more fear of Government unpopularity andcollapse. The increasing world security has many dimensions. Themilitary and defense dimensions dominate the subject particularlyafter the 9/11 episode. Political dimension has also been muchdiscussed. Economists have been highlighting that insecurity greatlyreduces the success of the economic objectives. For example, offand then it was being argued in Pakistan that the War on Terror has

resulted in the loss of around $US 80 billion since 2001. Poverty hasincreased. Trade faced odds. Human development tremendouslysuffered. These setbacks are the hardest ever hit the economy of thecountry in the past any time.

The concept of human security emerged in the UN Reportof 1994 and found that the human security was much morecomplex than it appears on the surface. The book under reviewdiscusses the anthropological viewpoint of human insecurity.Human insecurity is an expanded concept. It shifts security fromStates to individuals. The book is divided into three parts and topicsare contributed by different writers. Editors of the book teach at the

University of Oslo and Amsterdam University. With theirunderstanding of the discipline of anthropology, they came up tothrow light on the issue of human insecurity. Part one looks at thepolitical economy of human development.

Part two highlights the issue of identity. While the last pastthrows light states of insecurity. Thomas Hylland Erksen explainsthe concept of human security and says that the subject matter hasbeen explained by classical thinkers in their own fashion and time.Modern analysts also use the term in a wide range of manner. The


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term human security tends to harmonize (p.1). Generally, it wasbeing observed that human security might be an economic termthat addresses their socio-economic needs. The writer says that theterm human security is more relevant to anthropologists to studythan other disciplines that are based upon qualitative approach.They can better present the picture than security analysts and

economists, he claims.

The work directly addresses questions concerning howvarious dimensions of human security interacts with. This bookshows that how much people are willing to invest in human security(p.5). Wars, crimes, environmental damages, individualization, andideological tendencies increase human insecurity (Ibid). The bookalso discusses factors leading to strengthen their sense of security.Looking at different theme of the books, we can say that the lives ofthe Pakistanis are extremely insecure and dangerous if theAmericans continue to hound them toward the so-called War on

Terror. Thus insecurity has risen speedily in Pakistan after 2001.Ton Salmon concludes that the immediate future of the

Bolivians is in danger and the country is an example of a worst-casescenario in human insecurity. Insecurity is in multiple shapes andforms. Not only economic system introduces insecurity, politicalsystem in Bolivia also increases human insecurity (p.39). BernhardVenema, while investigating the insecurity amongst Berber tribes inMorocco, says that the people confronted with colonialism first andlater on with a hegemonic State, struggling to create human security(p.61). He says that privatization has affected the cohesion of theBerber tribal society to a large extent. The writer states that the

cultural repertoire of militant Islam has gained more importanceamongst urban centers (p.62).

Marjo de Theije and Ellen Ball investigate uncertainties atthe core of the lives of migrated Brazilian gold-miners in Surinam.They say that gold-miners face serious health hazards and lack of aproper legal coverage (p.81). Writers are optimistic that their hard-work could reduce risk factor. Ellen Bal and Kathinka Sinba-Kerkhoff focus on migration and ethnicity and see how humaninsecurity impacts upon them by taking the case of descendants of


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British-Indians in Surinam and the Netherlands and see howDiaspora faces insecurity in foreign lands. They says the Diasporassecurity depends on their individuality and belongings that theyattached to their motherland no matter they live in Surinam or theNetherlands (p.110).

Edien Bartels, Kim Knibbe, Martin de Koning, and OscarSalesmink in their essay emphasize on the intricate core relationshipbetween human security and cultural identity by discussing the caseof the Dutch Muslims and native Dutch through the parameter offear and freedom. They argue that identity gives more sense ofphysical security. They say that without identifications andclassifications such as Muslims and infidels and the arbitraryviolence of the attacks in New York (9/11), bombing in Madrid (11March 2004), London bombings (7 July 2005) as well as the murderof Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam (2 November 2004) cannot beunderstood (p.117). They further argue that both Muslims and their

fellow migrants to Dutch society cannot be excluded as a potentialthreat to the security (p.128). The choice between Dutch orIslamic values and norms increase such vulnerabilities in society.Writers say that young Muslims want full citizenship rights by alsoclaiming to be fully included as Muslims in Dutch society (Ibid).Tolerance can play some role to bridge differences between us(Dutch) and them (Muslims). The Dutch model of relationshipbetween Dutch and Muslims can be applicable to other Europeancountries (p.129), writers consent.

Lenie Brouwer points out that online culture among refugeesin other countries creates a sense of belonging and security with

their families in native countries (p.133). Andre Droogers discussesthe question of identity and security among the PomeranianLutheran migrants in Brazil. He says that constant struggle forsecurity may become part of migrants mindset. He concludes thatthere is a delicate relationship between security and insecurity(p.177). Marion den Uyl discusses notion of belonging inAmsterdams multicultural neighborhood and identifies negativenotions of non-Western poor, black, and criminal migrants thatforced the native-whites to leave the area. This is another type ofinsecurity problems in many Western societies. Sandra Evers says


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Book Review: Social Work education in countries of the East:

Issues and Challenges

This book is a contribution of 33 prominent professors of Social

Work from all over the world. It consists of 33 chapters and 20 ofthese are related to Pakistan. It is edited by Dr. Selwyn Stanley,Department of Social Work, School of Psycho-Social Science,University of Ply Moth, United Kingdom. It is published by NovaScience Publishers, Inc. New York, in 2011. The profession ofSocial Work has taken roots as one that enables people to deal withvarious complex circumstances. The ultimate goal is to usher abetter quality of life and promote psycho-social functioning ofpeople and their environment by an improved social order. SocialWork education is hence the crucible where ones professionalrepertoire is molded and the professional acquires knowledge, skills

and attitudes which are so vital for effective and ethical practiceaccording to the local socio-cultural values and norms. This requiresproper social work training to meet the challenges of the 21stcentury.This book, Social Work education in Countries of the East: Issuesand Challenges, provides a flavor of social work from the 33countries of the East. It gives an overview of local issues, historicalbackground of the countries, policies, programmes, current trendsand challenges in the context of social work education. The bookalso examines the ways in which social work education occurswithin the religious, cultural and governmental systems functioning

in the respective country. Some common concerns like lack ofregulatory bodies, lack of political commitments, appropriatesupervision in placement of agencies and issues related to the roleclarity, status and recognition of the respective countries arediscussed in the book. It also presents a scenario of optimism and ofconscious efforts to maintain and improve academic standards andplacement services for students. The contributors of the book havediscussed lobbying and advocacy strategies with government bodiesand social work education in local socio-cultural development.Chapter 20 is encompasses development of social welfare and social


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work in Pakistan, written by Dr. Gheyas Uddin Siddiqui. Thischapter highlights historical background of Pakistan, people andpopulation, major characteristics of the population of Pakistan,concept of social welfare in Islam and all important Islamicinstitutions. The development of social welfare institutions and theirprogrammes, the importance and steps taken for social work

education after independence have also been discussed. Thechallenges for social work development in Pakistan, such as overpopulation, poverty, illiteracy, corruption, drug abuse, terrorism,problems of national integration, women rights and socialempowerment, the universal declaration of human rights are alsodiscussed in the same chapter. It has been observed that trained andskilled professional social workers are required to improve upon theexisting situation of social work in Pakistan.The book under discussion provides an overview about social workeducation and development in 33 countries of the world whichinclude America, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,

Cyprus, Chavchavades, England, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan,Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, SriLanka, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. This is thefirst book which provides very significant information regardinghistory of social welfare programmes of these countries. It may beuseful for the students of the social work, researchers, educatorsassociated with the social work organizations, planners, policymakers and general readers. The abstract of the book can bewatched on Novas website at http://www.novapublishers.com

Professor Dr. Gheyas Uddin siddiqui is Chairman,Department of Social Work, University of Sargodha.


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Joint Statement following the meeting between the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Minister

of External Affairs of India. (September 2012)

1. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Ms HinaRabbani Khar and the Minister of External Affairs of India

Mr SM Krishna met in Islamabad on September 8, 2012, for

a meeting to review progress in the Dialogue process.

2. The Ministerial level talks were preceded by a meetingbetween the Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India on

September 7, 2012.

3. The talks were held in a cordial, candid and constructiveatmosphere.

4. The Ministers reviewed the status of bilateral relations andexpressed satisfaction on the holding of meetings on the

issues of Counter-Terrorism (including progress on Mumbaitrial) and Narcotics Control; Humantarian issues;

Commercial & Economic cooperation; Wullar Barrage /

Tulbul Navigation Project; Sir Creek; Siachen; Peace &

Security including CBMs; Jammu & Kashmir; and

promotion of Friendly Exchanges.

5. The Ministers noted that the dialogue process is guided bythe commitment of leadership of the two countries,

expressed at the highest level, to find peaceful and mutually

acceptable solutions to all outstanding issues and to build arelationship of trust and all round cooperation between

Pakistan and India.

6. The Ministers expressed satisfaction at the increase in highlevel bilateral exchanges between the two countries since

their last meeting in New Delhi in July 2011, namely,

leadership level meetings between President Asif Ali Zardari

and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi and


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Tehran in April and August 2012, the first ever bilateral visit

of the Speaker of Lok Sabha to Pakistan at the invitation of

the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, visit of

the Commerce Minister of Pakistan to India, after 35 years,

in September 2011, another visit by the Commerce Minister

of Pakistan to India in April 2012, and the first ever bilateral

visit of the Commerce and Industry Minister of India to

Pakistan in February 2012. The Ministers underlined the

importance of continued high level exchange between the

two countries.

7. The Ministers held substantive discussions on the wholerange of issues within the framework of the Dialogue

process and expressed satisfaction over the progress

achieved since their last review meeting in July 2011.

8. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of carrying forwardthe dialogue process with a view to resolving peacefully all

outstanding issues through constructive and result oriented

engagement, and to establish friendly, cooperative and good

neighborly relations between Pakistan and India.

9. The Ministers agreed that terrorism poses a continuing threatto peace and security. They reaffirmed the strong

commitment of the two countries to fight terrorism in an

effective and comprehensive manner so as to eliminate the

scourge in all its forms and manifestations.10.The Ministers noted the commitment given by Pakistan

during the Interior/ Home Secretary talks in May 2012 to

bring all the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to

justice expeditiously in accordance with due process of law.

11.The Ministers noted that during the Interior/ Home Secretarytalks in May 2012 Indian side had conveyed that the

investigation in the Samjhauta Express blast case is still


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Delhi in July 2012 and agreed to the importance of

continuing their meetings. They further directed that the

issues relating to fishermen as contained in para-10 of the

Joint Statement issued after the Interior/Home Secretaries

talks between Pakistan and India in March 2011 would be

further examined by the relevant authorities of the two

countries.

15.The Ministers welcomed the decision during the last meetingof the Home/ Interior Secretaries of the two countries in

May 2012 to initiate discussions in order to strengthen

mutual cooperation in criminal matters.

16.The Ministers attached importance to promoting Peace andSecurity, including Confidence Building Measures, between

the two countries and agreed to convene separate meetings

of the Expert Groups on Nuclear and Conventional CBMs,in New Delhi in the second half of December 2012.

17.The Ministers held discussions on the issue of Jammu andKashmir and agreed to the need for continued discussions, in

a purposeful and forward looking manner, with a view to

finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and

building convergences.

18.The Ministers reviewed the existing Cross-LoC CBMs andacknowledged that the ceasefire was holding since 2003.

They also reviewed the implementation of the decisionstaken regarding travel and trade across the Line of Control

(LoC) in their last meeting in July 2011. They expressed

satisfaction at the increasing number of people of Jammu

and Kashmir who are able to avail of the facility to travel

across LoC, and also at the growing Cross-LoC trade

benefitting them on both sides of the LoC. They also

welcomed the enhancement of the number of days for


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conducting trade across LoC from two to four per week, as

had been agreed by them. Taking note of the

recommendations made by the Joint Working Group ( JWG)

on Cross-LoC CBMs in its meeting in Islamabad on July 19,

2012, the Ministers decided the following: -

Cross-LoC Travel:

(i) Cross-LoC travel would be expanded on both sides of LoC to

include visits for tourism and religious pilgrimage.

(ii) Tourist and Pilgrimage sites will be designated on both sides of

the LoC and information will be available with the designated

authorities.

(iii) Such visits will be conducted by designated Tour Operators in

groups not exceeding 15 persons.

(iv) Permits for such visits will be single entry, non-extendable andvalid for up to 15 days.

(v) Travel for tourism or pilgrimage will be arranged during

summer season i.e. April to October.

(vi) Crossing for such visits will initially be from Chakothi-Uri and

Rawalakot-Poonch Crossing points.

(vii) Both sides will facilitate speedy clearance of applications for

travel across LoC. The process time should not be more than 45

days.

(viii) Both sides will extend necessary assistance to valid entrypermit holders to cross the LoC in emergency situation on crossing

as well as non-crossing days. This will be facilitated by designated

authorities.

Cross-LoC Trade:

(i) List of 21 products of permissible items for Cross-LoC trade will

be respected by both sides.


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(ii) Regular meetings between the traders on monthly basis on both

sides will be facilitated.

(iii) The designated authorities will resolve operational issues

concerning Cross-LoC trade through regular meetings.

(iv) Improvement of roads and bridges for Cross-LoC trade will be

facilitated.

(v) Transportation links on operational crossing points will be

upgraded.

(vi) Both sides agreed to facilitate the exchange of business

delegations.

19.It was agreed that the JWG on Cross-LoC CBMs will meeton a bi-annual basis to review existing arrangements and

suggest additional CBMs and measures for Cross-LoC travel

and trade.

20.Both sides agreed to the need for promoting friendlyexchanges between the two countries. They also discussed

measures for promoting cooperation in various fields

including facilitating visits to religious shrines, media

exchanges, holding of sports tournaments and cessation of

hostile propaganda against each other.

21.The Ministers welcomed the signing of the new VisaAgreement which liberalises bilateral visa regime and

introduces a number of measures aimed at easing travel of

business persons, tourists, pilgrims, elderly and children,thereby facilitating contacts between peoples of the two

countries, who should remain at the heart of the relationship

between Pakistan and India.

22.The Ministers welcomed the signing of the Memorandum ofUnderstanding on cooperation in the field of culture between

the Pakistan National Council of the Arts and the Indian

Council for Cultural Relations.


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23.The two sides exchanged views on Siachen, Sir Creek andWullar Barrage/ Tulbul Navigation Project, agreed that there

is the need to effectively address these issues by finding

mutually acceptable solutions and reiterated their

commitment to do so. They also reaffirmed the importance

of abiding by the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

24.The Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progressregistered towards normalizing bilateral trade and

commercial relations. The Ministers firmly reiterated that

both sides will scrupulously adhere to the roadmap drawn up

by the two Commerce Ministries for full normalization of

trade relations. They agreed that a strong and enhanced

economic partnership is in the interest of peoples of both

countries.

25.The Ministers welcomed reactivation of the Pakistan-IndiaJoint Commission, in accordance with their decision taken

last year. They Co-Chaired the Plenary of the Joint

Commission, which met for the first time after 2007. They

expressed satisfaction at the meetings of all eight Technical

Level Working Groups and noted that these Groups have

made a number of suggestions for exploring mutually

beneficial cooperation in areas of agriculture, education,

environment, health, information and broadcasting,

information technology and telecommunication, science andtechnology and tourism. They took note of and approved the

Report by the Foreign Secretaries, which is annexed.

26.The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the goals andobjectives of SAARC and agreed to make joint efforts to

promote cooperation for regional development in the

SAARC framework.


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27.The Ministers agreed to the launch of the next round ofSecretary level dialogue on all eight segments, as contained

in para-4 above. Schedule for these meetings will be worked

out through diplomatic channels. They further agreed that all

these meetings will be held prior to their next review

meeting in New Delhi in 2013.

28.The External Affairs Minister of India called on thePresident and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The Text of the Joint Statement issued after the two-

day talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan

Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil AbbasJilani. During the second-round of the resumed dialogue process,

the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan met in NewDelhi on July 4-5, 2012 for bilateral talks on Peace andSecurity including CBMs, Jammu & Kashmir andPromotion of Friendly Exchanges.

The talks were held in a frank and constructive atmosphere.Both sides reiterated their desire to carry forward thedialogue process in a purposeful and result-oriented manner.

The issue of Peace and Security, including CBMs, wasdiscussed in a comprehensive manner. Both sidesemphasized the need to promote greater trust and mutualunderstanding through constructive dialogue.

The Foreign Secretaries reviewed the ongoingimplementation of the already adopted Nuclear andConventional CBMs. It was decided that separate meetingsof the Expert Level Groups on Nuclear and ConventionalCBMs will be held to discuss implementation andstrengthening of the existing CBMs and suggest additionalmutually acceptable steps that could build greater trust andconfidence between the two countries, thereby contributingto peace and security. The dates for the meetings of Expert

agriculture 1947

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