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Issues & Analysis
The Quaid on corporate farming
Prof Rafiullah Shehab
THE Punjab
Government, according to a news item, has reserved 100,000
acres of land for corporate farming. This type of framing is
the developed form of feudalism. The Quaid-i-Azam had, even
before the establishment of Pakistan, declared to eliminate
this evil from the society. But it is strange that Pakistani
rulers, in spite of their claims of following the ideas of the
Quaid, not only supported it but also provided legal cover to
it in one form or the other.
Considering the Quaid's concern, it seemed that the
elimination of this evil was his prime objective. While
delivering his presidential address at the 30th session of All
India Muslim League at Delhi on 20th April 1943, he warned the
feudal lords in the following words: "Here I should like to
give a warning to the landlords and the capitalists who have
flourished at our expense by a system which is so vicious,
which is so wicked and which makes them so selfish that it is
difficult to reason with them.
The
exploitation of the masses, has gone into their blood. They
have forgotten the lessons of Islam. Greed and selfishness
have made these people subordinate to the interests of others
in order to fatten themselves. It is true we are not in power
today. You go anywhere to the countryside. I have visited
villages. There are millions of millions of our people who
hardly get one meal a day.
"Is this civilisation? Is this the aim of Pakistan? Do you
visualize that millions have been exploited and cannot get one
meal a day. If this is the idea of Pakistan, I would not have
it. If they are wise, they will have to adjust themselves to
the new modern conditions of life. If they don't, God help
them, we shall not help them.
(Speeches & Writings of Mr. Jinnah Vol.: I, 7th Edn, p
526,27).
The Quaid's view was not only in accordance with the teachings
of Islam but was also later supported by Dr. Gunner Myrdal, an
agricultural expert of international repute in his book Asian
Drama, the Poverty of Nations (p-1385). After his death the
demand for the fulfillment of the Quaid's desire was made by a
number of intellectuals, but the government by then had been
dominated by the feudal lords. They dubbed them as communists,
and banned the Communist Party as a reaction.
Still scared of the masses, the feudals acquired the services
of the Ulema. Syed Maudoodi, the founder of Jamaat-i-Islami,
compiled a book on this which was distributed by the feudals
on a very large scale.
The Punjab province was the centre of the peoples' demand.
Mian Mumtaz Daultana, to silence the masses, introduced some
land reforms. Its main feature was that, share of tenants in
the produce was enhanced. Previously it was one-half, now it
was increased to two-third. But it was never implemented.
There were also allegations that in order to strengthen the
grip of the feudals on the province, the Chief Minister had
rigged the 1951 elections of the provincial assembly.
General Ayub Khan's land reforms had so many loop-holes that
it further strengthened feudalism. Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
took advantage of this situation and befooled the masses by
raising the slogan of 'land for the tillers'. However the land
reforms of his government could not even make a small dent on
feudalism.
This state of affairs provided a chance for exploitation to
the Ulema. They organised the Pakistan National Alliance and
in its manifesto (p. 16) declared that lands would be handed
over to the actual tillers. To stress on this, they adopted
plough as their election symbol. Syed Maudoodi also signed the
manifesto but refused to withdraw his book supporting
feudalism.
As a result of the Ulema's movement, martial law was imposed
in the country and the Ulema became part and parcel of the
government but they like Mr. Bhutto forgot their promise.
Instead the martial law dictator promulgated the Zakat and
Ushr Ordinance providing legal cover to feudalism. The Ulema
were all praise for it, so much so that Mian Tufail Mohammad,
the then Amir of Jamaat, welcomed it as a milestone for the
Islamic system.
I invited the attention of the authorities to the anti-Islamic
nature of the Ordinance. The fact is that there is no 'Ushri'
land in our country. Our lands fall under the category of 'Kharaji'
which are treated as the joint property of the nation managed
by the government on their behalf. Feudalism can be justified
only in case of Ushri lands.
General Zia took notice of my articles and after discussing
the issue with me, suspended the Ushr portion of the
Ordinance. but in spite of tall claims of Islamisation he did
not enforce the Islamic law of management of land. Four years
later he even restored the Ushr portion of the Ordinance.
It may be mentioned that land management is the foundation on
which the super structure of the Islamic Welfare Sate is
raised. I contacted many Ulema (including the Jamaat-i-Islami)
to demand the enforcement of this law, but none of them
supported me.
Although the Ulema condemn feudalism but it is protected in
their manifesto. Therefore when the government decided to
introduce corporate farming none of them took notice of it.
E-mail queries
and comments to: rafishehab@nation.com.pk
Courtesy The Nation , July
27 2001
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