Rangers and the Fishermen

sadhna:

pseudo-psecularists ?

:)

you fight your pseudo-secularists
we are busy with our pseudo-mullahs

aziz:

I have always been wondering what could be the role of civil society to end this ‘occupation’, which is destroying the country very fast. Hope ‘chowkis’ will come up with some ideas.

bhai, ramzaan maiN aisay mushkil sawaal mut pouchO! on second thought, do not ask such tough questions ever...there are no answers... the people will continue to take it till such a time that they cannot take it any more and then like lava they would burst out...that is the only silver lining i can see...power can flow out of the barrel for only so long…

rgds,

t

Speaking of NGOs - of the foreign-funded NGOs, the Arab-funded NGOs are very supportive of a development model which encourages a certain type of recruitment and training. The Christian/Zionist West-funded ones raise objections, needless to say because they seek to undermine jihad, Islam and Pakistan. The rest of objecting NGOs are funded by RAW.

There you go, I have summarized in 3 posts all arguments heard on similar themes in 300 posts or 30 TV debates.

temporal
Poor people go out to fight the nation`s wars and the nation`s soldiers stay home to become rich by snatching livelihoods of poor people - a Malayalam filmmaker (for instance) could go to town with this theme.

But alas they are likely to be Arundhati Roy type pseudo-psecularists who refuse to apply the tiniest portion of their critical faculties to problems created by those who happen to be Muslims. The so-called `humanists` of S. Asia have never had any problem with a Muslim army bullying even a Muslim population. Muslims in S. Asia appear to have only one universally recognised right - the right to be bullied by Muslim leaders.

There is currently a storm brewing in India about privatisation of inland water resources. If we are lucky the pseudo - psecularists will take up that cause at least and not toe the allegedly World Bank-funded line. And for instance in Kerala, I believe there are longstanding issues between mechanised trawler fishermen and traditional fishermen with the govt. stuck in between in a no-win situation.

col. sadhna!

And by the way, why is this guy whining about 2 kg of fish in some backward region (which is civilised only because we did him a big favor and built a cantonment there) - when he could be in paradise speaking to God Himself after killing infidels for the greater glory of national interest? Really, these people make such bad choices against national interest ki poocho math. There is no point in quibbling about giving such people an equal say as happens in those futile electoral democracies.

sadhna:

you are in fine form:)

Are the Rangers nonMuslims? No, they are Muslims of course. This would be a problem only if the Rangers were nonMuslims. So talking of this is against national interest.

Those fisherman are Muslims ruled by Muslims, unlike the unfortunates yet to be liberated. So talking about this issue only spoils Pakistan`s image and plays into the hands of its enemies. Wait for nonMuslim oppressors(primarily oppressors India, Israel and America) to be vanquished first and till then stop spreading dissension in Muslim ranks.

Meanwhile people ought to realise the merits of corporate fishing vs small-fisherman fishing. The Rangers` business model(like the Punjab Rangers` corporate farming model) is economically soooooooo much more efficient and profitable for the nation. How can you subscribe to the economic inefficiency of allowing small farmers and small fishermen to make a living? So unpatriotic of you to be speaking against national interest - see this is why you people can`t be allowed to vote.

If a small fisherman wants to eat fish let him seek employment with the Rangers and use the salary they pay him to buy his fish from their chosen suppliers. And who stops a fisherman who is prevented from fishing or a farmer who has been evicted from the land he tills, from migrating to the city and finding work there with one of our other big businesses? If these people do not change their skills, they can not survive - that is the rule of the free market which we control (entirely in national interest, of course).

Now if this small fisherman wanted to leverage earnings from his traditional occupation to become a big fisherman or wanted to compete as a middleman fish supplier himself and invest his increased earnings in other small businesses in the region or set up a local fish marketing cooperative with his fellow fisherman and possibly stand for local council based on his activism- well giving him that choice at Rangers` cost is not in national interest. Taking away choices from a smalltime illiterate fisherman and giving them to trained educated soldiers in national interest is always a no-brainer.

#1 Temporal:
I have always been wondering what could be the role of civil society to end this ‘occupation’, which is destroying the country very fast. Hope ‘chowkis’ will come up with some ideas.

Fishermen in Badin district are facing a grave human issue as their only source of livelihood is taken away from them. The district is one of the richest in all of Pakistan mainly due to the vast oil production but the people there are among the poorest in all of Pakistan as all the riches of course go to the `masters`, not the `subjects`.

And it is not a new issue. Fishermen have been fighting for their rights since early 80s when Rangers started their control over fishing in the area. Please read this report by Mr. Hussain Askari published in monthly Herald last year:

“I’m a fisherman but no one in my house has eaten seafood for six months”

Catch-22

By Hussain Askari

The impoverished fishermen of Badin and Thatta are trapped in a no-win situation. The rangers are meanwhile raking in the bucks, for doing nothing whatsoever.

Mitthan Mallah’s only crime was that he wanted to take home two kilograms of his catch. The rest, roughly 80 kilos of saltwater fish, had already been snapped up by a contractor at rates abysmally lower than the market price. On his way home, Mitthan had to pass through one of the 11 checkpoints set up by the Pakistan Rangers in the Badin coastal area. When the secret cache of fish was discovered amongst his belongings, a rangers official smashed his face in with a rifle butt, leaving a permanent scar. “I’m a fisherman but no one in my house has eaten seafood for six months,” says Mitthan, a poor man who has no choice but to accept his sorry fate. The powerful people, the men with the guns and uniforms, obviously don’t care either way.

It was almost 20 years ago in 1982 when the Thar Rangers asked the Sindh government for exclusive fishing rights over a few outlets of the right bank outfall drain (RBOD). The catch from Badin’s coastal areas, they argued, would help ensure the welfare of the rangers personnel posted in the area. General Ziaul Haq’s military regime called the shots in those days and the Sindh government could do little but oblige. Some fishermen did raise their voice against this unfair and arbitrary decision but not even the most visionary of locals could imagine the extent of the hardships that lay ahead.

Within a few years, the rangers had extended their sphere of influence beyond Badin to Thatta. As things stand, the Pakistan Rangers now enjoy exclusive fishing rights in the coastal areas of both districts. Every year a fishing contract is auctioned at the rangers headquarters in Karachi, and the last such sale fetched a staggering 31.6 million rupees. No one benefits save the rangers and the contractor.

Courtesy: http://dawn.com/herald/

I think Pakistanis on the Kashmir board should stop by and read this article before sermonizing to us Indians about self-determination, referendums etc. The only solution is if everyone in Pakistan lines up to join the army i.e. all civilians become faujis. As they say, if you can`t beat them, join them :)

Aziz:

why are we not surprised any more?

you say There seems to be no limit to the encroachment upon the civilian society.

there is a limit!

310000sq miles and 150 million plus is the extent of the ravenous tentacles of the occupying army…they are pervasive and allover…(rangers being an off-shoot)

CLICK to read the list of land grab by the faujiz and HERE scroll down at the bottom to find more about the occupying army’s shenanigans

rgds,

t