Feudalism In Pakistan

In Pakistan, feudalism has appeared in different forms. The feudalism in Pakistan consists of landlords with large joint families possessing hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. They themselves never make any direct contribution to economy of the country, through agriculture production. Instead, all work is done by peasants or tenants who live at subsistence level.
The landlords, due to their ownership and control of such vast amounts of land and human resources, are powerful enough to influence the distribution of water, fertilisers, tractor permits and agricultural credit and, consequently exercises considerable influence over the revenue, police and judicial administration of the area. A landlord is, thus, lord and master. Such absolute power can easily corrupt, and it is no wonder that the feudal system there is humanly degrading.
The system, which some critics say is parasitical at its very root, induces a state of mind which may be called the feudal mentality.
Almost half of Pakistan's Gross National Product and the bulk of its export earnings are derived primarily from the agricultural sector controlled by a few thousand feudal families. Armed with a monopoly of economic power, they easily pre-empted political power.

To begin with, the Pakistan Muslim League, the party laying Pakistan's foundation 53 years ago, was almost wholly dominated by feudal lords such as the Zamindars, Jagirdars, Nawabs, Nawabzadas and Sardars, the sole exception being the Jinnahs. Pakistan's major political parties are feudal-oriented, and more than two-thirds of the National Assembly (Lower House) is composed of this class. Besides, most of the key executive posts in the provinces are held by them.
Through the 50s and the 60s the feudal families retained control over national affairs through the bureaucracy and the armed forces. Later on in 1972, they assumed direct power and retained it until the military regained power recently. Thus, any political observer can see that this oligarchy, albeit led by and composed of different men at different times, has been in power since Pakistan's inception.
In the agrarian sector, it is the landowner who is excluded from the production process, while in industry, domestic technology is almost absent or kept at bay. Industrialisation over the past five decades has, to a large extent, been established and operated with foreign capital, technology and raw materials. As a result, native technology has remained stagnant and the rest of the economy is not integrated with industry.
Today, Pakistan depends mostly on foreign aid for industrial raw materials and spare parts. This dependence has caused severe weakness to its economy. Coupled with these shortcomings, nationalisation in the industrial sector has brought further injuries. Many industries, after nationalisation, suffered substantially. Consequently, the industrial policy has not only failed to create a sound industrial base and employment opportunities, but has instead increased unemployment.
In this connection, it can be pointed out that while much has been said against the families who accumulated wealth, there was little actually done against such a system. In such a system, a vast income-differential also exists which adversely affects Pakistan's balance of payments. One knows that higher income invariably leads to a greater tendency to import.
This feudalism in Pakistan has engulfed the politics, the economy of Pakistan. The lords do not allow, the children of tenants to go to school, neither they permit schools to be established in their constituencies, nor they allow them to leave and work in other big cities. Whole of their life is spent in serving the Maliks, and Jagirdars. They are only useful in casting votes for their lords. This system will never vanish but will grow and be promoted by those having unlimited powers and resources