Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Recollections and remembrances

against 3,262 land lords and cases of 2,712 were decided. The area wronglyretained by the big land lords, waderas of Sindh, Sardars of Baluchistan, Chiefs ofLaghari, Mazaris, Tawanas, Qureshis etc. From the Punjab and Khawanins ofN.W.F.P, through concealment, collusion, forgeries etc, and resumed in decidedcases by F.L.C. up to 30th April 1977 figures 5,67.835 acres. (Out of this more thanFive Lacs acres were resumed by the chairman alone while the rest was takenover by six members collectively). It may be noted that these cases were verifiedas correct by the provincial land reforms tribunals. The toiling masses fullyunderstand that the usurpers of their rights are none else but elders of their ownnationalities, who even after expropriating the fruit of their labour for centuries,are not prepared to part with their loot. All the same they profess to bechampions of their rights. It is with an intention to perpetuating their foot holdsthey want to avert class struggle as a result of the unity of the working classes ofdifferent regions of Pakistan, which may put an end to the external as well asinternal exploitation. Anyhow it is for theme to asses the bonafide and the natureof their tears that they shed in their sympathy. It was due to lack of interest andunderhand dealings that the network of land reforms hierarchy in all the fourprovinces of Pakistan could resume only 11.56.362 acres of land under landReforms Regulation 1972, while, as stated above a single tribunal of F.L.C., on thescrutiny of the cases decided by the provincial tribunals, was able to discover areaequal to half of this figure. In pat feeder canal area as also in the former states ofN.W.F.P. the role of the Provincial Government of Baluchistan and N.W.F.P. wasto deprive the rightful tillers of the soil and favour the sardars and ex-rulersrespectively. Here too, the F.L.C. interfered, in exercise of its suo moto power tosafeguard legitimate interests of the oppressed toiling masses for whoseemancipation the land reforms were introduced. This is briefly dealt with in theirproper places below. In fact the provincial governments, for the reasons givenbelow under the heading “IMPLEMENTATION OF LAND REFORMS”, werepurposely trying to defeat the land reforms. It is with the efforts of the federalgovernment that the reforms were made tangible. The aggregate of distributableareas was brought up to 33,40,321 acres out of this 14,77,573 acres weredistributed to 1,37.005 tenants. In addition about Fifty Thousand families werepermanently settled in former states of Dir, Swat and Chitral.EJECTMENT OF TENANTS:The most distinguished feature of the Land Reforms is that they have given thetenants dignity and security. The new law forbids the ejectment of tenants exceptfor the specified grounds. Namely, if the tenants defaults to pay the rent, ormakes the land unfit for cultivation.Further the procedure for ejectment had been so framed as to safeguard interestsof tenants to the maximum and also to eliminate vexatious delays. Under adirective of the Federal Government the following provisions had been speciallyZulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 108