'Reforms, sans legal cover, are insufficient'
Asghar Ali Laghari reports on the PDI and Oxfam-GB survey of the Landless Haaris Programme of the Sindh government
Among the core development projects launched for the poorest of the poor communities by the Sindh government is the Landless Haaris Programme. As part of the first phase of this programme, the provincial government has distributed 41,517 acres among 4,029 landless male and female peasants, at a ratio of 30:70.

The city of Karachi has evolved from a sleepy fishing village to one of the great cities of the world. Noted architect and town planner Arif Hasan told Kolachi that present-day Karachi has had 14 different names. The temple of Mahadev, mentioned in the Mahabarta, is located in Clifton; other mythologies have also influenced the histories of public spaces of the city.

Karachi's evolution is fascinating from both historical and historiographical perspectives. It is no surprise then that when the maps, letters and documents of immense importance were discovered in the cupolas of the clock tower of the old Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) building located on M.A. Jinnah Road, everybody interested in the history of Karachi rejoiced.

"In August 2001, when I was secretary to the then city Naib-Nazim, Tariq Hasan, I went upstairs, to the clock tower, to inspect the clock which had developed some fault," Hassan Imam Siddiqui, Senior District Officer (Archive & Research) and District Officer, City Naib Nazim told Kolachi.

"This area always remained locked, so I was amazed to find thousands of maps, letters and documents after I went in," he said. "I thought these maps and documents were important and wrote a letter to the then Naib-Nazim Tariq Hasan and the departments concerned, but nobody took interest in them. In fact they were supposed to be sold off to the Raddiwallah."

Siddiqui narrated that some five years after his discovery, Nasreen Jalil took oath as the City Naib-Nazim and moved into building. "I told her that there were thousands of maps, letters and other material lying upstairs. She immediately went upstairs to personally inspect them, and exclaimed that we had found national treasure. We are making new findings every day," he said.

This set in motion certain steps to protect the heritage treasure, Siddiqui said, citing the creation of an archive and research department as an earnest effort to preserve the maps and letters. Guidance was also sought from Yasmeen Lari, the president of Heritage Foundation," he said.

Architect Hasan said that the evolution of Karachi could be traced back to the 18th century. "The importance of the city is essentially due to its harbour, which has attracted people for centuries," he said. "Before the modern Karachi Port was established, there was another port called Kharak Bandar in Hub in the vicinity of Karachi but in 1729, it got silted up after heavy rains. Then came a 'fortified settlement' on 35 acres in Karachi in Kharadar and Mithadar."

Siddiqui revealed that thousands of maps of Karachi from 1874 onwards have been found in the treasure, and there is mention of different "quarters" of Karachi. He said that at the time of the British annexation, Karachi consisted of the fortified port city and several suburbs. The British developed a new city on its north-east, re-organising the old and new settlements into various quarters.

"The native quarters consisted of the old fortified city. The settlements located outside it consisted of the Market, Rambagh and Arambagh, Lyari, Malir, Macchi and the Serai Quarters," Siddiqui explained.

"The quarters developed by the British began with the Cantonment, which were then followed by other quarters, including Saddar Bazaar, Garden, Napier, Bunder, Artillery Maidan, Ramswami, Preedy, Soldier Bazaar, Ranchore Line, Queens Road and Civil Lines Quarters," according to noted architect and town planner Yasmin Cheema.

In 1868, according to Hasan, Karachi became the largest exporter of wheat and cotton in India. Between 1901 and 1911, the major Punjab-Sindh irrigation schemes got completed, and between 1914 and 1922, Karachi became the headquarters for British intervention in Central Asia. In 1924, Karachi had the first airport in India.

"The treasure also includes an address by Queen Elizabeth II and a presentation made by a former Indian prime minister when he visited Karachi," Siddiqui said. "It also has a map showing when the ancient name of the town was changed to Karachi," he said.

"Mahatama Gandhi visited Karachi in 1929 and documents related to that tour have been recovered from the copulas. It was during his visit to Karachi that the name of Zoological Garden was changed to Gandhi Garden", Siddiqui said.

"A letter has been recovered complaining that Europeans were suffering because of overflowing sewage at Machi Mayani Market," he said. The letter dated February 24, 1926 is headlined: 'European Officers and Travelers Face Bad Conditions and Leaking Sewerage Lines in Machi Miani'.

The letter reads as follows: "Manchi Miani Road in Lyari is a historic place. It is one of the oldest residential areas of Karachi where the population, mainly consisting of fisherfolk, has increased manifold now with mounting civic problems.

"In 1926, it was one of the main centres of fish marketing. European officers and travellers visited after this place. It is significant to know that different civic problems amid the problems of that there was a broken sewerage line, that took much time to get repaired causing European and local people.

"A letter written by M/S Nuserwanjee to the Executive Engineer reveals that due to drainage paper broken, the dirty water came out after and accumulated in the holes."

Eminent conservation architect and town planner, Yasmeen Lari, told Kolachi said the maps would greatly help in assessing the way Karachi has developed. "The maps that have been found in the KMC building are dated to 1874, and are among the earliest survey maps of the city that were made as a result of the Great Indian Trigonometrical Survey that had been undertaken in the subcontinent," she said.

Lari revealed that she had procured some of these maps from other sources. in the early 1990s, which helped in piecing together the development of the city for her book on Karachi which was first published in 1996. "In the absence of detailed accounts, through maps dating to different periods, the way the city expanded and grew can be assessed and the change in its urban morphology can be determined. Old or antiquarian paper reservoir, presently found in gunny bags, once cleaned and catalogued, is likely to provide a vast amount of information about the working of the city as well as insight into the deliberations taking place at different junctures in the history of the city."

She narrated that city Naib-Nazim Nasreen Jalil consulted the Heritage Foundation after she discovered the archives, and in turn the foundation assisted the city government on an honorary basis to set up a display area showcasing some rare documents that had been discovered. However, since no funding was available, it was not possible to undertake the highly specialised task of cleaning and conserving the record.

Recently, the gunny bags have been given into the custody of Heritage Foundation to carry out the challenging task of applying appropriate procedures for the safeguarding of this enormous reservoir. Because of the fragile nature of almost all the record items, the work has to be carried out extremely carefully and with a great deal of sensitive handling.

The cleaning process alone is time consuming and requires diligent treatment. Most of the items are being repaired with archival tape and are being stored in acid free folders. The whole process of repairs and storage is being carried out painstakingly by a dedicated team including highly trained experts for cleaning and repairs in order to prolong the life of the record. After due treatment and cataloguing, large number of record items will become available as soft copies for use by researchers and scholars."

Siddiqui revealed that the Heritage Foundation has signed an agreement with the Dutch government some three or four months ago for the preservation of these documents. Lari maintained that due to the sensitivity and interest of H.E. the Ambassador of the Netherlands towards the significance of paper archives, work on safeguarding the City Government Archival Records could be initiated.

"Heritage Foundation is deeply appreciative of the support that is being provided for one year by the Government of Netherlands, which has helped us to begin systematic archival record safeguarding, " she said.

Asked to what extent these maps, letters and documents would help in re-writing the history of Karachi, she said: "Since Karachi was not a Presidency city during the British Raj, comparatively less information has been available on its development. It was with a great difficulty that I was able to put together my book on Karachi and had to search through many sources to get the required material.

"The paper records discovered in the office of the Naib-Nazim are likely to divulge data and information that has hitherto remained elusive for researchers. Once the records have been catalogued, many aspects of the city of Karachi will be revealed and, we hope, it will then be possible for future historians to write about many facets of the remarkably resonant and diverse metropolis of Karachi."

--The News photos by Naqeeb-ur-Rehman

In the 1940s, enraged 'Moslem' students of Dacca protested against one of the prominent figures of the Freedom Movement--A. K. Fazlul Huq and his Progressive Party. To many of us, he was known as the 'Sher-e-Bangla', and was famous for moving the historic Pakistan Resolution. The Students' Pakistan League Dacca seemed to have painted a completely different picture of him, however, if a press release of theirs stored in the Quaid-e-Azam Academy is to be read.

"A. K. Fazalul Huq's success in wreaking the league coalition party in Bengal… one of the biggest natural calamities that have ever befallen on Muslims of India…students condemn the latest move of his in trying to form a coalition ministry in Bengal with the cooperation of Congress cum Hindu Mehsabsha parties in the Bengal legislative assemblies..."

There are a number of mysteries hidden beneath the thick folders stacked in the archival places this city is home to. Hundreds of historical and rare letters, documents, manuscripts, maps, courts orders, newsletters, books and pictures, are waiting to be read at the metropolis's archival places; the Quaid-e-Azam Academy and the Sindh Archives. Unfortunately, most of the time this wait is in vain and these places lie deserted.

Sindh Archives Director Iqbal Nafees Khan told Kolachi that the lack of knowledge and of interest among the masses regarding history greatly demoralises those persevering for the preservation and storage of such documents. "Historical and rare manuscripts and documents are tucked away in these files which are simply screaming for attention and wanting to be read. A lifetime can be spent while studying the material available here. However, people in our part of the world simply have no interest in reading about the country's or even the city's history. A simple man can turn into a scholar by benefiting from the material we have, but sadly no one wishes to be one these days."

One of the largest collections at the Sindh Archives is the original records of the Chief Commissioners of Sindh comprising of 35,000 files. Dating from 1820 to 1935, it includes circulars, memoranda, exchange of notes and treaties. Then there are the records of the High Court of Sindh dating back to the 19th century, unique and rare maps of the Karachi district, volumes on the correspondence between Jinnah and Gandhi, manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Sindhi languages, historical governmental publications such as Bombay Government Gazette, rare newsletters on finance and revenue which date back to 1930 and several other historical texts.

While showcasing a rare 1874 map of the Garden Quarter of "Kurrachee ", Tazaful Hussain, a research scholar at the department, said: "We want the people to come and enlighten themselves about the city they live in, about the heritage, the culture, the lifestyle people led and even the court cases which were held during that time period."

Similar is the case with the Quaid-e-Azam Academy, although a higher number of visitors frequent the academy in comparison. There are 1,400 volumes of All India Muslim League documents, and some 610 volumes of correspondences between Jinnah and the masses.

Jinnah's letters display different sides of his personality, and his honesty and sincerity to those he served. In one of his letters to a man named Mian Mokham Deen, Jinnah demanded that he (Deen) pay the donation he promised at an All India Muslim League session. He says firmly:

"You will remember you were good enough to make your contribution and it was announced at that time…I have not troubled you hoping that you would send me the promised contribution as soon as possible…But considerable time has now elapsed…I am responsible for releasing the donations that were publicly announced…I wish to remind you, hoping you would kindly send me the checque without any further delay."

The keeper of the Academy told Kolachi that there are hundreds of such letters through which people can get to know the leader more closely, and also about the historical past. "If only people would develop the interest for it," he said with a look of disappointment in his eyes.

Debates related to provincial resources can be traced to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which, in its turn, generates polar responses: the first is in terms of the demands of the provinces; the other seeks to prioritise the Federation as a symbol of the Pakistani State. Ahmed Yusuf writes about various Sindh-centric points of view regarding the NFC Award

Arguments related to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award emanating from within Sindh seek to redress "structural imbalances" in the make-up of the State, with experts and activists both claiming that an Award based on multiple criteria is likely to benefit provincial coffers.

Some feel that problems arise due to the approach of separating economic factors from other phenomena, such as society and polity. "If the NFC Award is tabled before any talk of provincial autonomy, then any decision taken thereafter would not be a just one. The larger picture is that in Pakistan, the idea of federalism is rather skewed," South Asian Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-Pk) Provincial Coordinator (Sindh) Zulfiqar Shah told Indus Watch.

"Ideally, provinces should keep their income, and then decide for themselves how much they have to give to the Centre -- that would be the true spirit of federalism; it requires natural liberty as a prerequisite. This is the basic contradiction in Pakistan in terms of federalism, and in the context of intra-State relations," Shah said.

Such apprehensions about the NFC Award from within the province are understandable: the Award was last adopted in 1997, after a gap of about six years, but proved to be a regressive step as compared to the 1991 Award. In comparison to the 80 per cent allocation for provinces in 1991, the 1997 Award reduced the proportion of the pooled taxes that were to be given to the provinces to a mere 37 per cent.

There was also the inclusion of five categories of taxation in the 1997 Award. Income taxes, general sales tax, wealth taxes, capital gains taxes, and custom duties (given under the Federal head in 1997) made their way into the new Award. With Karachi long serving as the country's political hub, an argument has been made that the returns given to Sindh through the NFC Award are not quite in relation to what the province provides to the Centre.

Wage expenditures and provincial quotas

Eminent economist and Collective for Social Science Research (CSSR) Director Dr Asad Sayeed explained that the federal government had a significant wage bill, because a chunk of the expenditure of the federal government is in terms of the number of public servants it employs. "Not only does the federal government have to cater to the bureaucracy, it also has to provide for those employed in the armed services," he said.

"Although there is a quota system in the civil service, but a large number of recruits belong to Punjab. Similar is the case with the Pakistan Army, where about 70 per cent of the force is Punjabi. Given this make-up, Punjab automatically becomes a beneficiary of a strong Centre, as financial flows increase towards Punjab," Sayeed added.

Shah believed, however, that the current set up in Pakistan encouraged this "financial imbalance" and termed the system as the continuation of the colonial viceregal legacy. He said that for a long time, the British maintained a strong Centre and kept their cronies in the provinces happy so that they would stay subservient to them, especially in terms of the financial aspect.

Pre-Partition understandings

Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru both understood this problem, Shah said. "They agreed, on behalf of the Muslim League and Indian National Congress respectively, that the provinces were not empowered enough, and agreed to decentralise power so that the provinces could get more autonomy," he said.

Politics from 1940 to 1947 in United India thus took place under the Government of India Act-1935, under which all subjects were categorised under three heads: federal list, provincial list, and concurrent list.

"Unfortunately, the provincial list was abolished when the Constitution of 1973 was enforced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and only the federal and concurrent list remained. While the majority of subjects were put into the federal list, the rest were placed in the concurrent list; disputes were to be resolved by the Centre. It is interesting to note that while provincial empowerment was a legitimate demand before Partition, what you see today is the enforcement of a Colonial method of federalism," Shah said.

What does the PPP think?

Taj Haider, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and member of the Sindh government's NFC advisory committee, disagreed with Shah's analysis, instead claiming that provincial autonomy always translates into a bigger expenditure bill.

"The 1973 Constitution is the social contract that the PPP believes in, and you can find just and fair legal answers to a lot of queries in the Constitution," Haider told Indus Watch, adding that subjects that fall under the domain of the province, under the provincial autonomy schema, will have to be decided. "If universities are provincialised, the federal government won't have many expenses. However, every subject that the province gets means extra expenditure for the province," he said. "The question is: how many additional resources can you commit to deal with the expenditure?"

Administrative 'interference'

Haider believed that the problems lay in terms of administration and bureaucratic wrangles. "The losses are less where the provinces are well managed; the responsibility of keeping a system of check-and-balance lies with the provincial government," he said.

He also alleged that overt interference into the affairs of the Sindh government, first by Nawaz Sharif and then by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, meant that development schemes were purposely 'sabotaged'.

"We had planned on developing Keti Bunder; there were plans of developing a port there, a coastal development authority was also being formed. We had even planned to set up a power plant in Keti Bunder that would generate 5,000 megawatts. This project was sabotaged, first by Nawaz and then by Musharraf," he said. Haider claimed that new governmental authorities were formed to ensure the federation's involvement and red-tape-ism, in the process of developing Keti Bunder. "It took the government one-and-a-half-years to simply provincialise one of the crucial development authorities," he said.

Division of resources

Other critical legal matters are also yet to be resolved. "According to law, what grows above the ground level stays within the province, and what is found beneath the core of the earth is considered to be the asset(s) of the federal government," Shah said. "Similarly, seawater approximately 30 nautical miles is under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, but the Centre stakes claim to what lies beyond that."

Shah said that while the NFC Award is particularly concerned with sales and revenue, it also affects many other economic and financial issues. "Consider, for example, the phenomenon of internal migration into Sindh. While there is a significant number of Punjabis who have become naturalised and assimilated in Sindh, and can even be called Punjabi-speaking Sindhis, but the majority of Punjabis send their remittances back to their homes of origin in Punjab. This is just one example of what is actually a multi-dimensional and multi-layered imbalance in terms of financial flows," he said.

Taxation issues

Such division of natural resources is accompanied by the fact that NFC does not deal with royalties on a particular resource. Sayeed told Indus Watch that there are a number of obscurities surrounding the issue of taxation. Service tax is returned to the province everywhere in the world, but currently, this practice does not exist in Pakistan.

Sayeed explained that both gas and electricity have a certain degree of taxation associated with them, but the problem arises when one realises that taxation is in the realm of the NFC, but profits are not. Corporate taxation, which is a major part of the total taxes collected, also becomes tricky, as corporate agreements are often signed in Karachi, but the corporate entity in question exists across the country.

Provincial integration

Haider reiterated, however, that the PPP had committed in its manifesto that sales tax would be returned to the provinces. He maintained that the economic integration and inter-dependence of people across the four provinces meant that the current schema of the federal government setting up projects in various areas, and the project yielding profit to that particular province has good sense to it. "Profits on gas, for example, go to the province, and payment is made through direct transfers," he said.

The NFC advisory committee member claimed that profits from the Badin and Kandkot wells are given exclusively to Sindh. The point of contention, he explained, is on how to calculate profits. "Our argument is that you are earning more from our wells [in Sindh] than any other. This kind of thinking, however, passes over the finer details. "In Kandhkot, the drilling cost of wells was not very high, as gas was found at a depth of 1,200 metres. In Dodak, the same cost increased because gas was discovered at 4,500 metres," he said. "Every project is unique, and one has to realize that any two projects are not comparable. Profits should be calculated individually on every gas field, and then distributed."

Negotiations with nationalists

The NFC advisory committee of the Sindh government also met various nationalist parties in Sindh to garner their support for the province's official suggestions. Bashir Qureshi, leader of his own faction of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaaz, told Indus Watch that support from nationalists is contingent on the fact that the rights of Sindh are protected. "We welcomed them, as is our custom, but also told them in clear terms that we will protest if the rights of Sindh are compromised," he said.

Not the complete solution

Any talk of provincial autonomy is inevitably tied to the notion of a new State-citizen contract, and eventually, to a disparate view of state craft in Pakistan. Sayeed explained though that such suggestions are not within the ambit of the NFC Award.

"The alteration of the federation, or an improvement of federal affairs, is contingent on issues beyond the NFC Award, as the NFC simply deals with the tax revenue generated from the federal government, and the distribution of such things," Sayeed said.

"Changing the structure is beyond the ambit of the NFC Award, and other measures would have to be taken to redress such imbalance. For instance, the Army Act could be altered and the quota system could be modified. Such moves would ultimately result in a situation where the share of Punjab is diluted, given that the final flow in terms of salaries and pensions would also be directed towards other provinces," he said.

Sayeed highlighted the fact that there are other issues that also did not fall strictly under the ambit of the NFC. The demands of the NWFP, for instance, about receiving profits on hydel power plants remain outside the ambit of the NFC. Similar is the case with gas, especially in Sindh, given that the southern province produces about 70 per cent gas. If the Thar coal project comes through, a large proportion of electricity will also be generated from Sindh. These are all critical issues, he said, and will need to be assessed at a policy level.

Changes in criteria

Shah added that lessons needed to be learnt before implementing anything new. The ideal form of federalism, he claimed, existed in Germany, while the most complex form of federalism existed in Nigeria. He argued that revenue and poverty should be considered the major criteria, and should account for 70 per cent of the total fund. "Revenue should account for 30 to 35 per cent, and a similar demarcation should be made for poverty and development. Population should be one of the criteria, but should not account for more than 10 to 15 per cent. About 15 per cent can be given on the basis of territory," he said.

Sayeed's assessment was that thus far, there seemed to be some advantages on the margins. He said that now that Punjab had been displaying a favourable attitude towards moving away from its previous position, and has even agreed to consider multiple criteria, the smaller provinces might get somewhat more.

The critical factor, he explained, remained the bloated expenses of the Federal government. If these expenses stayed the same, Sindh and Balochistan would end up as major losers. If the Federal government were to reduce its share, then all provinces stood to benefit. "The larger issue is that of ownership of resources, and this is bound to become a fiercely contested one in the future," he concluded.

Among the core development projects launched for the poorest of the poor communities by the Sindh government is the Landless Haaris Programme. As part of the first phase of this programme, the provincial government has distributed 41,517 acres among 4,029 landless male and female peasants, at a ratio of 30:70.

Moreover, 43,682 acres are scheduled to be distributed among landless female peasants only in the second phase. The Sindh government is also providing them with support to cultivate this land, as well as opportunities for alternative livelihood support for sustaining the ownership rights on the granted land.

Land reforms of the past

The movement for land reforms in Sindh, however, is not novel. Some 300 years ago, Sufi Shaheed Shah Inayat Shaheed gave this province the ideology of land reforms in the real sense with his slogan of "Jeko khe'dey So Kha'ay" (one who cultivates the land, has the right to the produce). Not only did he give this ideology, he also translated it into a movement for peasants' rights and eventually sacrificed his life for the cause.

Since Partition in 1947, several rulers have claimed to have implemented land reforms. In truth, however, they have merely succeeded in deceiving poor peasants. Be it the land reform in the era of dictator Ayub Khan, or during the democracy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, landless peasants remained empty-handed, while Waderas, Jagirdars, bureaucrats and the military junta enjoyed and occupied State land.

Issues with the current programme

This time around, however, the government seems sincere in its efforts to provide land to the landless. The current programme is crucial, but is not without its hurdles and issues, the brunt of which is being faced by the poor land grantees.

The Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI), in collaboration with Oxfam-Great Britain (Oxfam-GB), conducted a baseline survey recently to collect facts and figures on the implementation of the Landless Haaris Programme of the Sindh government. Results of this survey, including issues being faced by the land grantees, were shared with officials concerned, the land utilization department and other stakeholders.

A number of problems were identified during the survey through meetings with individual land grantees, mainly women, as well as collective meetings with communities.

Bribes, bureaucracy, red-tape

Faiz Sindhi, from Allah Bakhsh Lashari Goth in Union Council (UC) Gharo, said that the distribution of land in one complete Deh has been stopped because a local Wadera had an eye on it. He allegedly used his influence and also bribed bureaucrats for this purpose.

Moreover, Kazoo Samejo, a widow, said that land which had been granted to her is allegedly occupied by a local Wadera, who also happens to be a local leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Local 'bullies'

Another widow, Noori, burst into tears when she spoke about a Wadera who has allegedly occupied her land, as well as the land granted to other poor women in her community. The Wadera in question also happens to be the secretary of a provincial minster.

Rehmat, also a widow and a resident of Sufi Talib goth, said that the land granted to her has been forcefully occupied by a local Wadera, who introduces himself as a Sufi, and claims to be a follower of Sufi Shah Shah Inayat Shaheed. "He is occupying my land despite the fact that Shah Inayat sacrificed his life along with his hundreds of followers for the rights of the landless peasants," she said.

Lack of legal support

A major issue at the moment is the lack of legal support to the poor land grantees. These people have neither the time, nor the resources, for lengthy court cases to fight for the ownership of the land that was granted to them by the government.

The Sindh government must therefore provide them with a legal cover, either through the law ministry or other sources. Bar councils also must play their due role for supporting the poor against landlords and feudals. They have to come forward for the support of the poor, just as the latter came out for the support of the independent judiciary.

Moreover, the judiciary must also ensure justice for poor communities, as should civil society organisations and political parties which claim to stand up for the rights of the downtrodden.