The whole incident often left me wondering about the role of civil society, especially the NGOs, in combating extremism and intolerance in the country during the last decade. I was part of many programs and projects that were aimed at promoting social and inter-faith harmony. It is no secret that executing and implementing these programs at the grass root level is not an inexpensive task. A four-day face-to-face training event for about 6 activists in one city would include boarding, lodging and transport costs. And the number of people these activists could reach through physical meeting was clearly limited, depending on the resources and advocacy tools used.

An example of an inter-faith meeting

Compare this outreach to the number of people who are exposed to the Friday khutbas or sermons that Hoodbhoy points to in his article. In the country’s estimated 250,000 mosques, 10 percent are assumed to be inciting hate for people of other faiths and opinions every week. Clearly the clerics of these mosques have a better infrastructure for outreach and to easily disseminate their message. It is one of the main reasons why disparity and intolerance towards other groups is alarmingly on the rise. And since there are no measures to counter it, chances are, it will continue to rise.

No doubt the NGOs alone are no alternative for handling these volatile issues. The state needs to address it as well, through legislation and implementation of the rule of law.

Before, advocates of new media had a hard time explaining why it was important to be on board with the modern communications tools. Even though, in 2009 Iranians showed the potential of ‘new media’ as a communication and lobbying tool, it was the Arab spring that showed the world. Of course, direct comparisons cannot be made due to the difference in the literacy rate and percentage of Internet users, both of which are much lower in Pakistan, than, let’s say, Egypt.

However, the point remains, that the use of social media has provided a much cheaper solution to lobbying, sharing messages and discussing, all of which raises awareness. But this vast potential is yet to be tapped to the full. I see a genuine lack of online presence from the community level organizations. Even if they do have a presence, it is mostly not very interactive for the users or officials become active online only in their individual capacity.

In Pakistan, many local organizations are still making excellent efforts for safeguarding the rights of minorities and promoting peace in their respective communities but yet have to be on board with exploiting new tools to spread their message across. Many international organizations rely heavily on online ‘community building’ through volunteers. One can only hope that other civil society groups will follow the footsteps of the recent online ‘success’ of Pakistan Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI). PTI has managed to really engage the Pakistani youth (both home and abroad) in their activities through the use of social media tools and platforms. This in turn has had a great impact on PTI’s follower-ship.

In short, Pakistan’s civil society and local NGOs need to start taking their presence online seriously if they are to really bring a lasting impact to the current state of affairs in Pakistan, a situation which currently seems to be only changing for the worse. Alternative media such as blogs and online discussion forums need to disperse equally throughout the country so that the voices of the under-represented and the neglected can be heard as well. Online inclusion of various sectors is fundamental in order to reach an authentic and balanced debate on the country’s democratic and human rights’ values.

View over the rooftops to the cathedral in Meissen, Germany

It was a wonderful welcome gift! Having just moved to the Netherlands from Pakistan, it was a memorable treat to go to a rare performance of the ghazal king in The Hague. I grew up listening to ghazals of the Punjabi legend Jagjit Singh. It was truly a delight to finally hear him live.

It was two decades ago that Jagjit Singh had performed in the country and now, on the occasion of the Immigration Day (celebrated by the local Surinamese community), he was to be part of the celebrations! On top of that, Jagjit sahab was celebrating his 70^th birthday this year as well as five decades of ghazal singing. Singh had set himself the target of giving seventy concerts this year. This one was the twenty-ninth.

The concert went well over three hours. He started with his popular number Main nashe mein hoon, which at some point in the song he changed to “mein satar ka hoon.” Although he mostly kept the show to popular ghazals like Hosh walon ko, kaghaz ki kashti, tera chehra, chaudvin ki raat, Pyar ka naghma, Ahista ahista, honton se, he also did a few Punjabi numbers too including Mitti da bawa (originally sung by Chitra Singh.)

What was remarkable about this show was that Jagjit Singh introduced on stage two local artists and invited them to sing with him. It was a surprise because a) I had not bought the 100-euro ticket to hear others sing and b) even though the duet with the female vocalist Seeney mein sulagtey reminded the audience of the good old Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh days, the male vocalist was “differently gifted”, in my opinion.

I still wonder how Harry, the male local singer, made it to the stage with the legend Jagjit Singh because even the sound system people seemed not to like the combination. After hearing the first ghazal, tum itna jo (one of my favourites), Harry’s microphone would go silent whenever he attempted to ‘sing’. (he did sometimes hit the ragga, in his defense) He tried his hand at honton se chulo and tum na jaaney kis duniya mein. Luckily (for the audience) there were some technical glitches in the sound system. The awkwardness got so obvious that Jagjit, sympathizing with Harry, then chose to sing “tum ney badley hum se gin gin key liye” (on revenge) mostly pointing at the technicians at the back of the hall. Jagjit’s sense of humour remained integral in the midst of the depressing topics of the songs. It sparkled throughout the show. He didn’t sing many of his newer and less popular ghazals, but nonetheless it was a magnificent evening.

]]> http://iffatgill.com/2011/06/06/jagjit-singh-in-the-hague-the-netherlands/feed/ 0 http://iffatgill.com/2011/05/16/the-promised-lands-of-the-land-of-the-pure/ http://iffatgill.com/2011/05/16/the-promised-lands-of-the-land-of-the-pure/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 14:47:45 +0000 rose http://iffatgill.com/?p=177

A mazareen child working during the wheat season

On the 28^th of March 2011, a call was given to the farmers of the military farms for a march to Lahore. The long march was organized by the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP), a peaceful movement of peasants and landless tenants of the military farms located in ten districts of the Punjab province. In response to the call, thousands of tenants including men, women, youth and even children were out on the roads. There were hundreds of vehicles, mostly tractor trolleys and motor bikes, as well as many people who came by foot. The rally comprised of men, women, elderly, youth and even children. Everyone chanted the slogan: Maliki ya Maut (Ownership or death.) The police stopped the protestors from Khanewal, and things did not remain peaceful. The rest of the event continued as planned and the mazareen from different parts of Southern Punjab made it to the provincial capital. This time, the movement even made headlines in both the print and electronic media. The founder of the AMP, Younis Iqbal, was sad about the clash on the Khanewal unit. “The long march was successful as it made a very strong impact on the spirit of the movement, but the Khanewal mazareen could not join us,” Mr. Iqbal said.

What had happened in Khanewal is what the mazareen had been facing for over a decade now. In an interview with Mr. James Masih, an eyewitness, he said that when the demonstrators reached Khanewal city, the armed police force were standing on the roadsides. The mazareen were not stopped, but when the procession was passing through, the police started throwing tear gas at the demonstrators. Women and children were beaten while men and young boys were arrested. Since the demonstrators were not prepared for this assault, they decided to flee back to their villages instead of fighting. Mr. Masih explained: “We were told by the administration to not take part in the long March. They tried to stop us by saying that a high level meeting was to be held on the 29^th, a day after the planned march. The farmers ignored the message and still showed up for the event. It was a tactic by the administration to try and cancel the rally so that the struggle of the farmers is halted.”  However, Mr. Masih has no doubt that the mazareen will continue to fight until their last breath.

Since 2000, numerous rallies and clashes have taken place to suppress this movement. What is also surprising is that in a country with a vibrant media, this was one movement which was successfully stopped from making headlines. In the past, the movement was not considered worthy of attention of many civil society groups. Only a handful of activists from Multan and Lahore remembered these movements on special days like the May Day celebrations. Mr.Iqbal said the newspapers were told not to cover an anti-establishment resistance. “We were being portrayed by the establishment as terrorists, and giving us media attention would give undue benefit to the resistance,” he said.

Events like these have created an atmosphere of doubt and distrust among the mazareen, who have been promised repeatedly to be granted ownership rights by the government and local politicians. In 1998, Former Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff promised the tenants the ownerships rights in return to their votes. Numerous struggles were previously crushed, as they were not organized effectively and the farmers did not know whom to go to for help.

The mazareen movement has been through a lot of challenges. Mr. Younis Iqbal, the founder of the AMP, was in jail for eight months for ‘inciting the peasants to rebel/resistance.’ There have also been many other instances of beatings, arrests, tear gas attacks, shelling, torture and even killing, but nothing seems to have deterred these workers. The peasants still continue to hold to their slogan of Maliki ya maut.

While talking about those who died during the clashes as well as those that died due to a lack of medical care when the villages were under siege by the security agencies, Mr. Iqbal explains: “No movement is successful unless there is blood shed involved in it, and we have given the blood of fourteen innocent mazareen in this fight. Therefore, we strongly believe we will succeed in this fight for freedom from slavery. We are not afraid. We illiterate people have been able to reach so far in this struggle with our persistence and strong will power.”

One of the most compelling arguments the mazareen made with the people, who came for negotiations was the freedom from slavery. “We live in Pakistan, a country that has gained independence. But we mazareen are still not free, we are still forced to live under the [Colonization] Law of 1912. We want to be part of the country’s independence too so that we can finally breathe in the air of independence.” Mr. Iqbal said. The senior army officers did not have much to say to that he recalled.

Mr. Iqbal values the role of the Punjab Board of Revenue for their role in the mazareen struggle. The mazareen went to the Revenue officials to inquire about the registered owner of the farms in year 1999. They discovered that the organizations that had been collecting revenues, forcing them to give up half of their produce for decades, were legally not entitled to do that. “Since the owner is the government of Punjab, the Revenue Board was the only authority to claim any dues from the farmers,” Mr. Iqbal said. “This is why after the introduction of the new yearly lease system, the peasants have refused to pay cash or share produce to the managers of the farms,” he added. This event was a turning point in the struggle of the mazareen.

Today the movement has finally received attention at the national level. After the long march to Lahore, the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has assured the AMP that the matter will be resolved soon. Committees have been formed at provincial and national level to transfer the ownership rights to the mazareen. “We were invited to the initial meetings that were held by the Punjab Board of Revenue, but then the local politicians stepped in to be included in these committees. They feared that if they were not part of it, it will affect their vote bank in those villages.” Mr. Iqbal said.

The leaders of AMP are now hopeful for a positive result. Their story is one of a kind in the history of Pakistan, as it is a struggle for the rights of the landless tenants, which was not led by the country’s elite but by the untaught peasants themselves. These peasants, who have been suppressed for a century now, are hoping for a brighter future for their children. Most of them remained uneducated due to economic burdens and hardships of farming. Now the mazareen are looking forward to start development projects for the welfare of their communities and villages.

Background and History

The mazareen are the direct descendants of the families that were brought in in the early twentieth century by the British colonial administration. The main aim of these farms was to provide food for the British Indian army at subsidized prices. The families who moved from East Punjab were promised ownership rights if they succeeded in making the land productive. It was the hard work of these tenants that made the arid forestland into a cultivable land.

After the partition, these military farms were passed onto the Ministry of Defense and the Government of Punjab. The management comprised of military organizations like Military Seed Corporation and companies like Punjab Seed Corporation. Out of the approximately 59,000 acres of land for the military farms, 32,000 acres were leased to the Punjab Seed Corporation, the army controlling the rest. In the previous century, the tenants have given half of their produce to these agencies and those that preceded them. In some cases, revenues have been collected from these tenants in cash as well. During all this time, the tenants having been voicing concerns about being granted ownership rights, which was seen as a threat by the organizations that collected revenues from them.

In the 1990s, the managers of these farms starting instructing the tenants to use excessive amounts of fertilizers and pesticides, which resulted in poor produce. This was thought to be a tactic to impoverish the tenants, so that they abandon the farming lands. Things got worse for the farmers when a new piece-rate and a yearly lease agreement were introduced for these farms in 2000. The farmers felt they would be further impoverished by these new reforms and saw it as a tactic to force them to abandon their farming lands as they would not be able to feed their children from it. They refused to comply. They refused to pay the managers. No dialogue or negotiation could come to the rescue despite several efforts by the Mazareen movement. The management retaliated. Armed police forces and paramilitary rangers were sent to pressure the tenants to give in. Every man, woman and child became part of this movement, preferring death to giving up the land they have been cultivating for a century. To this day, these one million tenants of the military farms are demanding their right to be given the ownership.

The tenants who cultivated these military farms are not to be confused with the other tenants or partition refugees who were allotted lands and also given ownership rights in other parts of the province after 1947. The government initiatives of 1952 and land reforms of 1958 and 1972, all excluded these farms.

Military Farms Fact File:

Location: Punjab province (mostly Southern Punjab)

Number of Districts: 10 (Lahore, Okara, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Multan, Vihari, Faisalabad, Pakpattan and Sheikhupura)

Area originally covered: 68,000 acres

Area under control of Ministry of Defense: 26,274 acres

Area leased to Punjab Seed Corporation: 32,000 acres

Tenants: 1,000,000 (40% Christian)

1908:   Settlement of tenants on military farms

1947:   Partition and Influx of immigrants

1952:   Land allotment by Government of Pakistan to new settlers (excluding military        farm tenants.)

1958 and 1972: Land reform Acts introduced which excluded military farms.

1996:   Foundation laid for Mazareen movement

1998:   Former Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff promised the tenants ownership right in return of tenant vote bank.

1999:   (March) Application submitted by tenants to Punjab Board of Revenue to obtain the proprietary rights

2000:   (June) Introduction of new piece-rate and yearly lease agreement.

2000:   (June) Formal launch of Anjuman Mazareen Punjab- AMP (in reaction to new conditions)

2000-2011: Numerous rallies, demonstrations, long marches, negotiations organized by the AMP members throughout Punjab. Clashes and unprovoked violence on tenants by armed police forces and paramilitary rangers.

2011:   (March) Successful long march organized by AMP to Lahore

2011:   (April) Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani promised to resolve ownership rights issue of tenants with Ministry of Defense.

(this feature was previously published in The Christ Times, Karachi)