Reclaiming land, a most difficult task

Small land owners complain of Balochistan government's lack of cooperation; officers' abuse of power.

JAFARABAD: Until the morning of August 6, Manzoor Aman, an owner of 80-acres of land, was among the fortunate in Nehal Goth, one of the villages in Rojhan Jamali. By night, he was wandering on the streets looking for a tent to provide shelter to his family of seven members. Two months after the floods, Aman says he is still trying to settle in Mangoli camp, the biggest tent village in Dera Allah Yar.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but it’s not easy to live in tents if you’re used to a certain standard of living,” he says. “These days it’s hard for me to sleep because I am not only worried about our present living conditions, but our future as well.”

For the 1,120,184 acres of crops affected in the recent floods, the provincial government of Balochistan has promised compensation worth a few thousand rupees, but more than the harvest small landlords are worried if they will be able to reclaim the exact size of their land after the floods.

The village Patwari (land record officer) will now be the ‘king’, they say, and may become a source of friction among land-owners. The Patwari’s job encompasses maintaining the record of ownership of agricultural lands, while being a public official.

However, in most cases they are able to change records at will after receiving bribes from wealthier landlords, allege those with small land holdings.

According to officials, 400,000 acres of crops have been destroyed in the Jamali tribe alone, which houses up to approximately 600,000 people.

“Each family here has a land holding of at least 10-12 acres. This can give you an idea of how many families have been directly affected,” Senator Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali, one of the landlords in Usta Mohammad sub-division of Jafarabad, told The The Express Tribune.

In other districts, such as Jhal Magsi and Naseerabad, lands of the Magsi and Umrani tribe have also been destroyed.

Currently a camp resident, Niaz Khan Magsi’s 14-acre land in Kot Magsi was also washed away. He adds that the Patwari in his area is notorious for his political connections and fears he may never be able to retrieve his land. “My documents got washed away. Now all I have is this!” he said while flashing his NIC. “How will I reclaim my land? Who will ensure that he doesn’t cheat me and my relatives - all of whom are landowners?”

Role of public officials

Many are also bitter over the negative role of most parliamentarians. Refusing to take any names, Aman told The Express Tribune how he sees relief trucks parked outside the houses of wealthier landlords and politicians who have been exploiting the situation and diverting aid to their relatives and sometimes, to their voters. “We also have news that many local politicians have stored rations for months in advance while we are starving on the streets.”

According to Jan Jamali, apart from the Rs50 million donated by the prime minister to Balochistan, Rs10 million has been allocated to each MPA to help voters in his constituency as well. Jamali says that owing to the magnitude of the disaster, the government is bound to miss out some people who continue to complain.

“At this point, we don’t even know whose help to seek. The district administration has collapsed and officials haven’t returned to work yet. Even the police ran to save their lives and their families and are living in camps. The communication system is in a shambles and mobile towers are still not working.”

A district official of Naseerabad, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that while they faced problems during the floods, the provincial government did not step forward to help in any way. “It is easy to blame those lower in hierarchy, but the truth is our provincial ministers did not coordinate. All they were worried about was their lands.”

Awan nods in agreement and then laughs: “They tried to divert the floodwaters towards us and inundate the smaller lands, but that didn’t help. The 150,000 cusecs of water decided not to spare anyone and swept all our lands together. At this moment, we are all the same … we are all land-less.”

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