In Search of Greener Pastures

Faiza and
# 11 Jay,
Faiza, I agree with you to contend the obsevations made by Jay. Here are some facts.

The armed Forces do not consume more than 26% of the Annual Budget. Over 50% used to be spent on the debt servicing leaving behind a mere 24% for other sectors. Out of the 26% defence allocation, the Army recieves approximately 16%. Again of the 26% allocation, about 22% directly flows back into the local economies, sustaining the GDP of the country. Thus if the defence allocation was to be slashed, the GDP would fall for a few years till the new channels for cash inflow into local economies are created. Though the Army haters would to their chagrin have much to say, besides being the recipient of 26% allocation, the Armed Forces contribute about 10% of the gross national income in form of taxes and National Development activities and management of the various welfare trust and foundations. Besides, the armed forces run some of the cheapest and best education institutions. The army is the single biggest contributer in the social sectors in thje Northern Areas and Kashmir providing such diverse services as communications, basic health and hospitals, construction and maintainance of roads and emergency services. Also remeber that the armed forces have been the single biggest contributers of town management and urban development. Quetta, Pannu Aqil, Kharian, Mangla, Okara, Malir, Bannu, Tal, Kohat, Sargodha etc are cases in point. Compare Swat city with murree to know the difference. You will not find a single green tree in Mingora.

Of the total foreign debt of Pakistan which amounted to about 42 billion dollars in 2000, 52% was consumed on water management projects from dams to linning of canals and on farm management. This comes to a staggering figure of about 20 billion dollars. Of this about 60% or 12 billion was wasted on consultancies with not a cent trickling down to the common man. how much was mis appropriated is anybody`s guess.

The basic problem in Pakistan is the lack of imaginative planning and honesty of purpose. As such, we do not have a practical socio economic development program. Development is a by product of whatever goes on and is therefore a consequence.

Hats off to Pakistan`s irregular and unregistered sectors that generate a parallel economy stronger than the documented one. It is this sector that held Pakistan togather in the years of sanctions. For the past three years, this sector is on a decline because the Tax survey squeezed their incomes and cheap stuff coming from China and Taiwan.

In the complex atmosphere of our financial institutions and Czars, self reliance is a mere slogan. This powerful lobby wants to live off loans, grants and loyalties to the international Financial Institutions, powerful multi and trans nationals and their own profits.

The agricultire surplus that we are reaping for the past three years, owes much to the policies of a certain God fearing and patriotic secretary of agricuture. He ensured that wheat strains were developed that closed the gap of Kharif crops with late picking of cotton. He ensured that we got self sufficient in Canola and minimise import of edible oils. Unfortunately, not only was he booted out, but also the complete canola program sabotaged in the interests of the poultry lobby that imports cheap soya meal from india, which is first processed in solvent plants to extract oil. Such are the shots in the foot.

I wish if someone including the czars could challenge me on these figures .

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Hello Everyone,

Thanks for reading the article, here is an attempt to try to answer several of the questions raised.
First of all Jay, I think it would be highly appreciated if you can prevent yourself from being so judgemental in the future. You don`t even know me and there you are drawing a whole scenario of my life, ``the author is munching on the fauji pop corn, sitting in house buily by fauji cement, on land given by fauji at cheap rates with loan from fauji bank and watching cricket managed by retired foujis on Tv bought from the shaheed shopping complex.``

I don`t even live in Pakistan, my family migrated to US a while ago. But everytime I go to Pakistan, I do provide volunteer services to people. My trips to Pakistan are not just the ``summer vacations`` that most people succumb to. While in Pakistan, at an individual level, I help out people. I think the best thing about living in America is the fact that a spirit of volunteering and helping others without the motivation of rewards in return is instilled in people. And yes living in America brings alot of negative aspects to the arena of life also.

NZK, thanks for a thorough and complete reply. I realize that in 1959 and 1972, land reforms were attempted but there failure lied in the fact that its implementation was tried to be carried out by people who themselves were deeply entrenched in feudalism.
I think if we look at the grassroot movement in Brazil, MST, and its effectiveness in bringing about land reforms there, then we can be sure that Pakistan can also have land reforms implememtation. MST organizes landless workers to occupy idle lands using a clause in the Brazilian Constitution. More than 250,000 families have won title over 15 million acres of land and these families have experinced an increase in their standards of living as compared to their landless counterparts. Land reforms tend to have a domino effect. In Brazil, farming communities dominated by large corporate farms caused the nearby towns to die off. Mechanization resulted in fewer local people being employed. In these towns the income earned in agriculutre was drained off into larger cities to support distant enterprises and absentee landlords. In MST small family farming communities, these farm families exchange goods and services with the local town markets thus each benefitting from other and these MST settlements have become economically better than their counterpart towns.

ALLY, you are right, there is nothing Islamic about Pakistan. With our mullahs, who seem to not be so pious or dedicated to the amelioration of Pakistan, we can not expect too much. Living in America, I feel like I am a more practicing Muslim then I would have been in Pakistan. Over there, the materialistic attitude of the western hemisphere has become a dominant force in deterioration of moral values.

I know I have left out some people, sorry. Lack of time. but next time I will try to answer everyone. THanks guys, CHOWK is like a tossed salad, you meet all sorts of people:)

#12

`taking into account the grip Islam has over the pakistani society`

really! since when did Islam take a grip of Pakistani society? thats make belief and wishful thinking in part of certain segments of society...

go to Pakistan and u will see how `Islamic` it is. Most religious stuff is just a facade or veneer.

#11 by jay

Jay you are right. Small disagreement. ``The army that accounts for 50 percent of the budget``.

No they dont. They control 100%. They always did.

No pakistani ever had guts to admit. So it will always be India, USA, Israel. Jews... Orribles.
Hind with Hamid12345, K with Usr... Will always crib...

Some may even show they agree. But. But. But

Blame on the rain. Blame it on the mountains. But never, never blame it on where it deserves.

Boy o Boy. Now, you divert. Blame it on Feu....

GOD forbid my nation is owned by such idiots. If you ever think that can happen, I will be more than intelli... far more than you think.

Faiza

If you really want to know. We started it 50 years back.

Send a un-equi.... I will have write up how we started it. Constructive, with all we did right and wrong.

Madam.

The result ...

We still have not been able to get rid of them. I think NHK is right. It is mentality. Not the ....

Yogiraj Patil

Yet another pathetic apologist for the army. The army that accounts for 50 percent of the budget is not the single bane of pak society because the author is munching on the fauji pop corn, sitting in house buily by fauji cement, on land given by fauji at cheap rates with loan from fauji bank and watching cricket managed by retired foujis on Tv bought from the shaheed shopping complex.
This author is one of the most pathetic to hit the chowk

taking into account the grip Islam has over the pakistani society some one could think of making a positive use of it.
If the religious leaders take up the cause of land reforms (like the gandhians did with their `boodan` movement) may be it`ll make a difference.

Faiza

The people who have lived in cities all their lives find ``fuedalism`` a favourite beating horse and make it the reason of all social evils of the country.

There is more to it as follows:

(a) Ayub carried out land reforms and brought land holdings down to 10 squares.

(b) Then Bhutto carried out land reforms; and brought the land holding down to 4 squares.

(c) The squares are counted on the basis of produce index per acre. This produce index was worked out during the British Raj and still continues. In Punjab, it meant less land because the area had canals and land was fertile. In Sind, it meant a much bigger land holding because Sind was a desert. That is why you see big land holdings in Sind. The produce index criteria needs to be revised.

(d) With each generation, land automatically gets divided - and holding keeps getting smaller.

(e) With the modern technology, there is an optimum size of land holding below which the entire venture is not economical. Without technology, not only produce per acre is less but profit is also less. (no accurate water, fertilizer, pesticide control etc)

(d) Why only the agriculture land be snatched and distributed among the poor, why the big industry or urban property should also not be distributed among the poor. Incidently, the land holder is putting the maximum equity as compared to the industry walla which is doing mostly on loans.

(e) Fuedalism as a state of mind is evil - and not the land holding. A police SHO is a fuedal, a corps commander is fuedal, Musharraf is fuedal, a tax commisioner is fuedal, a Chowk editor is fuedal etc etc. Some Interactors are the biggest fuedals.

(f) With distribution of small pieces of land, the poor will be destined to live a subsistance life - is this the fate of our poor?. Technology and industry is the answer to create more jobs. In US, less than 6 % are involved in agriculture - agriculture is not a profitable venture. The state subsidizes agriculture in developed countries. The real killing is made in technology.

(G) Solutuion is education and technology and industrialuization. Land Reforms is a political slogan for votes.

Thanks. Enough for now. More later if you have any questions.

Hello Ally, Cosmic Citizen and others who have expressed interest/disapproval :)

The article that has been posted on Chowk.com is part of a series of articles that I have written for Pakistan Chronicle (English newspaper published in HOuston) and so I am sorry that the whole gist of the movement was not understood since chowk.com only published this one article. Other articles have been submitted and hopefully will find their way to be published on the site soon. As far as your issue is concerned about middle class farmers giving up their land then this is not what we are targetting. We all know the atrocities and brutal measures taken by feudal lords to control not only their land but every soul that lives on ``their land.`` PAR wants small farmers to receive their fair share, which includes not just pieces of land that they can cultivate but also other rights like who they should vote for, right to educate their kidds, right to live and breathe.... The lack of education in our rural areas is a direct result of Feudalism. Feudal lords see education as a threat to maintainence of their status quo and thus are in direct opposition of schooling in their rural areas. Ally, we are not targetting people who have worked hard on their land, we are targetting the unjust feudal lords who have exploited cheap labor and abused power for decades.

Cosmic citizen, thanks for reading, here is the reply to your suggestion. You are right there are many other issues in paksitan that one needs to focus on, but after conducting extensive research, PAR has concluded that feudalism is the cause of all evil. We can not have democracy until we can stop feudal lords from coercing poor/weak farmers to vote for corrupt leaders. We cannot move to an educated society until we are allowed to build schools that have teachers and students in rurual areas. As far as development is concerned, even today Pakistan is considered to have an agricultural based economy, so until we fix the problem ther we cannot move towards development.
A few weeks ago, an incident in OKARA (in Punjab) shows us what a threat to democracy these feudal lords are. Farmers raised their voices against the inhumane, unjust treatment they have received from these lords (this includes Military personnel who have been granted large masses of land), and in return wer fired upon and detained by the Police and Army. How do you expect to see democracy in a country that has long been a victim of civil unrest brought by its own?

IMPORTANT

Please read the posting that explains PAR`s goals in the Unplugged section. The posting is found under the thread ``anyone interested in doing something productive.`` The posting is the a long reply (not too long) posted by me (faizahussain).
i think this article would make more sense once people have read PAR`s goals.

THanks everyone

haw hai... what will happen to our marabbas? haiN ji! my dada was allocated a few marabbas zameen after he migrated from India by Pakistan Govt, the zameen was barren and my dad an his brothers tilled the soil and fixed it all up, and now we get crops from it, but now we also have some servants to help us, will we lose our zameen?

what of those zameendars who actually still work their lands, we own a fair bit of land but work most of it ourselves with our servants? we got the zameen when we arrived in west punjab as compensation for the land left behind in east punjab, if you think ppl (especially middle class farmers) are going to give up their haq, that they have worked and tilled themselves because of land reform plans then dream on sister.

Although most Pakistanis will deny but the main reason India was partitioned and Pakistan came into existence was because of the Feudals. If Indians had given up their demand for Land Reforms, the Unionist Party would have had no reason to walk over to Jinnah. Feudalism is now so much ingrained in the polity and blood of Pakistan that it would be decades if not centuries before it will die. Abolition of the Zamindari system was one of the greatest achievement of post independent India.

However, before Pakistan can get rid of Feudal system a lot of groundwork has to be done. Institutions such as Judiciary and democraticly elected governments have to be strengthened and the masses educated as to their rights before Feudalism can be abolished. This will be a big task since the troika of Feudals, Army and Mullahs now have vested interest in the continuation of the system. It is easier to control a Feudal than 1000 of his peasants. From what I read about Pakistan, it seems the Feudals are gaining more strength rather than weakening.

Aspirin may not be the cure but it can be used temporarily until further drug administration can ameliorate the condition.
I don`t know why you are bringing feudal MNAs` so called accomplishments in the past to this forum. You seem to be neglecting the problem. We have to start somewhere and PAR believes that with a little bit of the community support, we can atleast make the Pakistani govt aware of the necessity of land reforms. With community support, we can work in collaboration with international agencies and actually get something implemented in pakistan rather than just wait for some miracle to happen. Yes this is an issue that will be discussed (thats considering we are lucky enough to get them to discuss this in parliament soon) and stacked away in some corner. But if we keep nudging them then it will only be awhile before they end up taking some action. PAR is there to constantly nudge the govt authorities, authorities that have negelected this issue for toooooooooooo long. I am not a complete optimist, not the Candide in Voltaire`s novel who thinks ``all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds,`` rather I am a maliorist who believes with diligence and commitment anything can be possible. So put aside the pessimism and negative criticism and focus on the real issue. thanks for reading and interacting.

#2 ahmadzai.. couldn`t agree more with you...

Land Reforms are a mirage and even if implemented will solve only a minor part of the problem....
in my point of view there is a greater need for

awareness:-
People should be aware of why?(they are the deprived class) and how?(to cross the Poverty Line)

education:-
One thing you can force the politicians into implementing is a sound educational policy, free and compulsory education....

development:-
Government should be forced to focus on development issues rather than selling old stock issues to people and concentrating on wrong priorities...
development of economy needs political will and stability... foriegn investment... infrastructure are the mantras of devlopment... and jobs are the direct fall out of development... the only hope for the downtrodden to

elimination of corruption:-
the monster.... no need to elaborate

democracy:-
a need that cannot be undermined... various other aspects related to development(investor confidence, foriegn policy... Foriegn aid...)

there are some issues like small scale/cottage industies and self employment, agricultural policy, irrigation projects, transport facilities etc., about which I do not know much in the Pakistani context....

my humble contribution to your attempt to coming brainstorm....

luv,
CC

The patient suffers from blood pressure and arteriosclerosis. Prescribing aspirin is too little too late, too simplistic, too ignorant, populaist............

#1:

What have urban MNAs of MQM and others from Karachi, Lahore etc and non-rural relgious MNAs have done for Pakistan? Without feudal MNAs, these people would have teared each other and Pakistan apart, looted her and left for USA or Britain.

Faiza:

I agree with you and with Catch 22 at # 1 on the evils of feudalism in Pakistan. However, I would request all of us to brainstorm on the steps that can be taken practically to eradicate this bane of our society. Measures like land reforms will be debated in the parliament and shelved. If resoultions are passed, they will not be implemented. Therefore, let us come up with practical solutions.