The land-tenure system which Pakistan inherited at Disinterest signified in many ways a cooperation of structural contacts that permitted economic and social manipulation of the resident by the landlord. This system of land tenure was considered by absconder landlordism, and led to the exploitation of residents by the zamindars because of the highly irregular power structure inherent in the system.
In the world of today – rather, the third-world of today – it is standard to blame everything that goes incorrect in a developing country on its faulty and corrupt government. In Pakistan, an essential part of this new trend is to howling the country’s feudal system of land ownership that provides room for landlords to thrive – even control the system to its very roots.
It must be said that in most cases this blame is justly placed. However, where we, Pakistanis, go wrong is in discovering the roots of this scrounging flaw in our system, sometimes mistakenly blaming the Muslim royals of medieval India for creating the intermediary landlords, particularly criticizing Akbar’s mansabdari system. But accurate research reveals that it was not in fact Akbar, but the British colonizers of the subcontinent who have left us with this parasitical curse that we have failed to get rid of to this day.
The Zamindari system was introduced by the British in the Eastern provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa – the ones that the British captured the earliest. In this system of land regulation, the landlord – the person who was awarded a piece of land by the British – was solely in charge of revenue collection. This meant that the British administration had no direct dealings with the cultivating farmers. Therefore, in this system, the landlords were in effect given all property rights, though, in later years, the British did introduce some measures for protecting the rights of tenants and sub-proprietors.
But as the time goes on and after end of British rule these Zamindars become Feudal Lords and slowly but eventually apprehended the nerves of poor farmers and give them only few bread to eat and survive they are against the education of their children and use government school properties for their animals. Even we are in 2023 but as far as situation is alarming in interior Sindh and Punjab farmers become slaves and they prove them their Gods.Most of these lords become political leaders or at strong position public holding offices in Pakistan in other words powerful people come from powerful places, Back-up by police and establishment.
ShahrukhJatoi(feudal Landlord)case is one of the examples of this class It is pertinent to note that in December 2012, ShahrukhJatoi along with his fellows shot 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan dead in Karachi’s posh locality Defense Housing Authority (DHA). who murdered a young guy on the road who get fired & killed to just save her sister from this animal. But after spending luxurious life in prison he gets bailed from High court with heading:
ShahrukhJatoi, the main accused in the high-profile Shahzeb Khan murder case has been freed from the Malir Jail after 10 years, according to prison authorities.The action has been taken after the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the acquittal of culprits in the Shahzeb murder case last month, Express Tribune News reported 24 November 2022.The top court had canceled the Sindh High Court’s verdict to uphold the punishment of the accused individuals in the case and ordered their release following reconciliation with the bereaved family. Following the order, Sindh High Court Registrar wrote a letter to the Jail Superintendent to release ShahrukhJatoi. After which, the Jail Superintendent released Jatoi immediately.
Police in Pakistan also back-ups these powerful landlords and become puppets in their hands influenced by politicians under corrupt system. The powerful people involved in bail of this case including police and law enforcement agencies, for that reason common personavoid to enter in police station and feel more insecure after reporting his complaint, as they have relations with corrupt and notorious wings of fanatic and extremist groups and forged the evidences, sometimes removes them just because of pressure from lords. Jatoi case is open-shut example of this incident.
Public surveys and reports of government accountability and redress institutions show that the police are one of the most widely feared, complained against, and least trusted government institutions in Pakistan, lacking a clear system of accountability and plagued by corruption at the highest levels. District-level police are often under the control of powerful politicians, wealthy landowners, feudal lords and other influential members of society. There are numerous reported cases of police extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects, torture of detainees to obtain confessions, and harassment and extortion of individuals who seek to file criminal cases.
This report documents custodial torture, extrajudicial executions, and other serious human rights violations by the police in Pakistan. It details the difficulties that victims of crime and police abuse face in obtaining justice, including the refusal by police to register complaints (known as First Information Reports or FIRs), their demands for bribes, and biased investigations. The poor and other vulnerable or marginalized groups invariably face the greatest obstacles to obtaining justice in a system that is rigged against them. It also examines limitations, including financial and human resource constraints, which police say impact their ability to function properly, and looks at examples of some good police practices that can serve as possible models for the future.(Human Rights Watch , 2016)
Note: This piece is purely analysis of the Author (Sidra Saqib)
