PAKISTAN: A Hard Country, by Anatole Lieven, was published in 2011. Thirteen years later, Pakistan is a ‘harder’ country still. But not everyone here is aware that the hardships, like our wealth, are not spread evenly. We tend to analyse our economic problems in financial terms. But hardship also has a human face and confronts psychosocial challenges, which the better off fail to notice.

Look at the agricultural sector. It is one of the most lucrative, contributing 22.9 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP. It provides livelihood to the highest number of people, accounting for 37.4pc of the labour force (Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24). Every man who tills the soil is helped by his family. But the women are not counted and are reduced to being invisible.

The hardship begins from day one, when a deal is struck between the landowner and hari (farmer). It is a brazenly unequal deal. The landowners in Pakistan are probably one of the most privileged classes, who have special benefits and advantages.

We are told that the landowners were assured at the time of Partition that their holdings would not be touched. Hence, no land reforms were contemplated in the first decade, unlike India. It was in 1959 and then in 1972 that reforms were announced, but in practical terms they made no impact as they were circumvented by wealthy families who retained their land. Now, the concept of land reforms has received an honourable burial, with the Federal Shariat Court having pronounced it un-Islamic in 1989. Additionally, the landowners also enjoy immense political powers, irrespective of who is at the helm.

The deal struck between the landowner and farmer is brazenly unequal.

Treating the hari with contempt, the landlords have safeguarded their wealth. For instance, in northern Sindh, most deals are done on a crop-sharing basis. It means the hari has to till the land and share the crops harvested equally with the landowner. The caveat lies in the conditions imposed. The hari has to pay for all the inputs, such as seed, fertilisers of two types, pesticides, tractor and thresher charges, seed planter, etc. It is estimated that if the haris were spared this burden, their income would double. Rough calculations put a hari’s income for an acre of land that he tills at Rs50,000 per annum. The haris receive half the crop harvested. They store some for their own consumption and sell the rest for cash. Needless to say, they are exploited mercilessly by the middle men.

The haris get no relief from the government, which is dominated by the landowning class. Children in the rural areas are denied the benefits of good education and healthcare. Census 2023 tells us that 61pc of the country’s population lives in the rural areas, but anecdotal evidence suggests that schools are not located in the same ratio. More schools function in the towns and cities, where fewer people live. This is certain that the children of the haris do not get the education that empowers them to resist the oppression heaped on them.

In this ocean of misery, there are some islands of compassion tempered with dignity and self-esteem. One of these that emerged about three years ago is the Tractor Project set up by the Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust in Kheiro Dero (District Larkana). It is dedicated to a hari called Abid Husain, who suffered from chronic liver disease. In spite of his health disadvantage, Abid’s was a smiling face of dignity and courage. He was always at the forefront when collective action was the need of the hour.

At one time, a small bridge over a nullah collapsed, causing a lot of har­dship to the farmers who had used it to transport goods and crops. Despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not respond. Hence, Abid mobilised the haris to provide free lab­our. The Trust paid for the material, and the bridge was repaired. It was Abid who came up with the suggestion that the Trust should acquire a tractor to loan it to the haris at a low rate. Thus, their cost of inputs would be considerably reduced. Now the Trust has two tractors and the farmers are benefiting. Those who are allowed to avail this facility by their landlords manage to save a substantial amount.

It is time our landowners, who are hardly taxed, opened their eyes to the poverty around them. Is it too much to ask them to create a fund in line with corporate social responsibility, as the business sector has done? It would mean a turnaround in their attitudes towards the people who generate the wealth they possess. But of most importance is the fact that the face of poverty should be fringed with dignity and self-respect. What the tillers of the land are looking for are their rights and not charity.

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Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2024