Land Reforms Petition at the Supreme Court Most of our conversations about the land reforms petition on this thread seem to overlook the role that this petition could play in resuming a political and social debate on the subject. Those who have reminded us that the debate on land reforms is a political one and no short-cut will give us a solution are indeed right. We all agree that there is need for mobilization and ownership among peasants and this goal can hoped to be achieved only through mainstream politics as NGO-esque stances will not bear fruit. But all these people are either unaware of or overlooking the fact that the land reforms were declared illegal and un-islamic through the Shariat Bench s verdict passed in 1990 and this petition seeks to reverse that judgement. From 1990 to this day the matter of land reforms has remained neutralized and has been used by landlords (many of whom are mainstream politicians) as a perfect alibi to perpetuate status-quo. A decision by the court in favor of this petition could actually revive a pro-people narrative and thereby gather enough steam to reach some kind of meaningful fruition. Let us consider the political and historical perspective in which this petition has been filed: 1. In 1972 a martial law regulation (MLR 115) was promulgated by Mr. Bhutto that barred land holding in excess of 150 irrigated or 300 un-irrigated acres. 2. In 1973, the Constitution of Pakistan was passed unanimously by all political parties including all religious parties. Article 253 of the constitution did two things: Firstly it authorized the parliament to fix a ceiling for holding of property including land; secondly, it maintained that if a ceiling to holding of land already exists (which did exist through MLR 115) then that ceiling stays as the maximum that can be held. So the parliament could effectively reduce this ceiling further but not increase it. 3. Based on this constitutional mandate the parliament in Mr. Bhutto’s regime passed the Land Reforms Act of 1977; the fact whether these land reforms were implemented in true spirit or not can be a question. It is an issue that can be attributed to the political turbulence and long dark regime of Zia-ul-Haq as well as the malafide of the big landlords who passed the law for political mileage but had no intentions of implementing it. But that is a debate for another day. 4. Zia-ul-Haq’s obsession with his brand of Shariat, led him to establish a Sharia Court – that exists till today – whose jurisdiction was to scrutinize all laws, endorse, amend or nullify them by interpreting them through Shariat. 5. All laws fell under the jurisdiction of the Shariat Court barring the Constitution, the Muslim personal laws, some taxation laws and the procedures of court; the Federal Shariat Court and its jurisdiction were made a permanent part of the law by adding another chapter (3 A) in the ’73 Constitution. 6. Shariat court’s decision could be appealed against through the Sharia Apellate Bench consisting of 2 ulemas & 3 regular judges. 7. In 1981, Qizilbash Waqf (a trust comprising of large land holdings) challenged the Land Reforms Act of 1977 in the Shariat court pleading to declare them un-Islamic and restoring the pre-1977 situation. 8. The Shariat Court dismissed their petition and the judges unanimously declared that since scrutiny of the Constitution was beyond their mandate, they had no jurisdiction over the matter of land reforms clearly articulated through the Constitution; additionally, they declared that the Land Reforms Act of 1977 did not interfere with Shariah. 9. The Qizilbash Waqf went on to appeal to the Shariat Apellate Bench against this decision and eventually in 1990 this Bench, passed a judgment that declared the existing Land Reforms Act as unislamic. Their verdict declared land reforms as illegal and against Shariah. 10. Although one of the five members of the Bench - Justice Nasim Hasan Shah - maintained that there was nothing unislamic about land reforms all judges (unlike the Shariat Court judges) unanimously saw the matter being within the jurisdiction of the Shariat Court. Four out of five judges ruled the Land Reforms Act of 1977 as unislamic. After 1990, the debate and dialogue on land reforms ceased to exist. Mainstream political parties conveniently overlooked it in their agendas as it had been declared “unislamic” by the prevailing Shariah law. The petition that Mr. Abid Minto has filed simply seeks to overturn the Shariat Bench’s decision and restore the Land Reforms Act of 1977 so that the subject can be revived and discussed as a political matter. The petition maintains that in the presence of the wadera or feudal setup - that allows unlimited land holding - citizens of Pakistan are being denied the right to life with dignity (articles 9 &14) and the right to be part of the political process (article 17) as this system polarizes the society. The petition has been granted a hearing directly by the Supreme Court as it pertains to the fundamental rights of public importance that are stated in the Constitution of Pakistan through Article 184 (3). Hence, the notion - held by several commentators on this thread – that the petition in question is trying to get land reforms executed or implemented by passing of a law is contextually inaccurate. I think that it is important that we remain united in supporting this public interest litigation at this juncture and work towards enlisting print and electronic media support so as to take this matter far and beyond. I must mention here that in addition to the opposition by the two provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab there is the Farmers Association of Pakistan that has thrown its weight against this petition. This association is spear headed by the likes of Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi and several other big land lords. They have challenged this petition through their lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada (a veteran PPP member who ironically was a part of not only framing of the ’73 Constitution but also someone who co-authored Land Reforms Act of 1977).
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:03:31 +0000
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