Tenancy rights

Getting governments to act on behalf of the people they represent, rather than the moneyed interests who bully and bribe them, has always required direct action. Throughout Pakistan’s existence, there have been few power divides as vast as that between feudal landlords and the poor farmers who actually till the land. The very first laws that attempted to address this power imbalance – the provincial Tenancy Acts of 1950 which were implemented in Sindh, Punjab and what was then the NWFP – were spurred by a massive protest led by the legendary Comrade Hyder Bux Jatoi when he and thousands of other peasants surrounded the Sindh Assembly. The tenancy acts, and the modest land reforms which followed in the Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto eras, have done little to address the worsening conditions for peasants all over the country. A recent meeting of peasants, held in Mirpurkhas and organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, highlighted the many ways the Sindh Tenancy Act of 1950 needs to be changed. These changes would be applicable to the other tenancy acts as well. The most basic change is that the essential relationship between a landlord and the tenant needs to be refigured in favour of the latter. After all, it is the tenant who does all the work and so deserves to reap the reward of their labour.

As an example, landlords often take loans against their land to purchase tractors and other equipment or even start different businesses but the tenant, who is supposed to receive an equitable share from what is produced, cannot do the same. This leaves tenants in a weakened positioned since they cannot make use of improved technology for themselves or even purchase their own parcel of land. Changing laws alone will not help when there is no will to implement laws. In fact, the rights of agricultural workers have only been snatched away in the last three decades. This started when the Federal Shariat Court in Ziaul Haq’s era decided that setting ceilings on how much land can be owned by one group or person is un-Islamic. This has continued as agriculture’s share in the economy has steadily decreased. The result has been landlords asserting their will on tenants and even denying them the share in the produce that is their right under the law. The only way to get their rights is by organising politically to thwart the powerful.