A large number of freed bonded labourers, hailing from different Hari camps around Kotri, Hyderabad Umerkot, Sanghar and other areas of Sindh participated in a rally on Tuesday (yesterday) to highlight demands of implementation of land reforms, setting up Hari courts under Sindh Tenancy Act 1950, distributing of state land to landless peasant families and end of bonded labour in agriculture and brick kilns sectors.
The rally was organised by Sindh Land Reforms Movement (SLRM), a network of around 35 civil society organisations working on human rights, labour rights especially for the rights of bonded labour in agriculture and brick kiln sectors. The rally led by peasant women with civil society activists Karamat Ali, Executive director Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), Puhal Sario of Sindh Hari Porhiat Council, Dr Ghulam Hyder Malookani of Greed Rural Development Organisation (GRDO), Hari leaders Veero Kolhi, Manoo Bheel, Ghulam Hussein Malokhani, Lali and others.
The peasants decried that due to non-implementation of the Sindh Tenancy Act the farmers are being deprived of their due share in crops. The bonded labour has creeped in the agriculture sector and hundreds of thousands of peasants are kept in bondage in various areas of Sindh. "We demand the Sindh Assembly members to enact Bonded Labour Abolition Act and cases be registered against the violators of the law."
They pointed out that hundreds of worker is freed through courts, but no case is registered against the landlords, who keep these workers under custody in their private jails in Sindh. Unfortunately, the perpetrators are freed and the freed workers do not find any job after getting themselves from bonded labour. The workers associated with brick kiln units in Sindh demanded of the government to remove the gap in wages and bring the wages up to the level of workers in Punjab.
They said it is unfair to implement the two laws simultaneously for workers in the country, saying the workers in Sindh are being paid wages less than those of Punjab. Some leader pointed out that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recently announced an agriculture relief package of over Rs 341 billion for farmers, which should be implemented to provide relief to the workforce in the agriculture sector. They said this package will not benefit to Sindh farmers, especially for landless peasants. The Punjab farmer's movement is motivating the farmers there.
There should be broader movement at national level so the farmers in Sindh may get their rights as per law. The peasant leaders expressed concerns saying this announcement is only for landlords and it could not benefit to landless peasants. For instance, subsidies for rice and cotton will support exporters and this will not benefit to landless peasants. They also raised voice that there is nothing about the support for indigenous seeds to be given to farmers.
This PM package should have been promoted indigenous seeds to benefit local farmers, because GM seed is not only causing destruction of soil fertility, it cannot be used for next crops. The peasant activists, keeping eye over the weather pattern changes and ups and downs, saying there is no contingency plans to address the issues, as frequent disasters have caused destruction and displacement. That is why hundreds of families of farmers displaced during frequent floods in 2010, 2011, 2012 and then are still out of their homes. There is no plan for their rehabilitation. This should be kept in mind to avoid any further destruction for the poor families.
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