A welcome proposal

The move by MQM to submit a bill in parliament to enact land reforms has to be welcomed given its aims and objectives.

The move by the MQM to submit a bill in parliament to enact wide-ranging land reforms has to be welcomed given its aims and objectives. Often in the past, especially in speeches made by party leader Altaf Hussain, there has been mention of “98 per cent” of Pakistan’s population being under the debilitating grip of feudal landlords and the landed elite in general. With the legislative proposal, we see a political party, for once, follow its rhetoric with action. One can only hope that the bill will attract support from across the political divide. This is spoken from an idealistic point of view — the reality is that the landed elite and feudal elements have a disproportionately high representation in parliament and it is unlikely they will vote for a law that seeks to reduce their power and influence.

That, however, should not mean that such proposals not be supported. The scheme provided under the bill seems transparent enough to merit such support. It seeks to set up “land commissions” in all provinces which are to be headed by retired judges of the Supreme Court or high courts. These commissions are to have three members – the other two can be retired provincial ombudsmen and senior members of that particular province’s board of revenue – and they will be tasked with setting aside land to be redistributed to the poor. According to the party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, the limits for the land to be redistributed are far lower than they have been in the past, particularly with reference to Ayub Khan’s mostly cosmetic land reforms. Of course, there will be cynics who will say that this is yet another move by the party to seize the initiative on an issue close to the hearts of ordinary people the same way it recently jumped on the Dr Aafia Siddiqui bandwagon.  That, though, should not take away from the inherent goodness of the cause and the immense benefit it would cause to Pakistan, a country wracked by severe income inequality, where ownership of land plays a key role in having access to state resources and public office.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2010.