Feudalism, which is a political system characterized by the centralization of power within a certain nobility, has conditioned the societies of the world for ages as a dangerous fear. The French Revolution is an infamous instance of the dangers that arise in feudal systems when indignation reaches severe levels, and the empires, the aristocrats or the ruling classes abuse the rest of the society only to warrant general chaos and revolution. Sadly, a province so rich in resources as Balochistan is still engulfed by this system of feudalism resulting in poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.
In Balochistan, feudalism is supported by power and wealth of the landowners and sardars (tribal leaders) who have control over the people’s work. People lacking rationalization take such decisions for their immediate advantages, which enhances radicalism, favoritism, and malpractice. Their hold on power is so compelling, and so abusive, that no individual has the audacity or the confidence to challenge this commission, and as a result, the development within the region is regressive.
The power of these landlords and sardars gets translated into wealth such that they disobey the law without the fear of being punished. They often hold fake degrees, obtained through their connections, and use their influence to manipulate uneducated voters. Consequently, those who face trials of serving the subjects go ahead to satisfy themselves. The consequence is that of a political wholeness where a cancer is entrenched, nepotism and deceit being the order of the day.
The sardars and landlords, along with their underlings and armed protectors, are that kind of mafia which makes sure that no one living dares to oppose it. They wield immense power, blocking traffic and punishing anyone who crosses their path. Surprisingly, several sardars always seems embroiled in one kind of a quarrel or the other and has always got some unclosed police cases against them. Yet with one set of rules for them and another for everyone else, it is only in the book that their family members can get arrested. This lawlessness tends to create violence and fear and facilitate the sardars in retaining their status and torture more of their subjects with carelessness.
It is even more against the interests of the young, in particular, those residing in the villages of Balochistan since these deteriorating decisions are made by these feudal landlords and sardars over there. This has caused a gap including educated youth who aspire to be in leadership positions and even representation in the political scene. Rather members of these ruling families sit in the parliament and take out rules that punish them in oth. This in effect simply maintains the original order of things where those at the top remain at the top and those that are at the bottom are kept down.
The most recent occurrence in Balochistan shows the perils of this system. Due to the nature of his investigation, a government officer was assassinated while visiting the shops of a wealthy landholder. Balochistan is littered with such narratives as that of the officer which victimizes and marginalizes the destitute of the region. The officer’s murder sent a chilling message: those who dare challenge the power of the feudal elite will be silenced.
Sadly, the phenomenon of land grabbing and landlords and sardars taking unfair advantage of the masses is prevalent in Balochistan with more than a hundred cases not being heard. These elite classes live and prosper in luxury, cut off from the aspirations of the masses. They grab lands at their pleasure without regard to the ownership rights of others and bulldoze anyone opposed to their action. What is most disturbing is the fact that they tend to mislead the youth, and accordingly alter their minds and bring them back to the same culture of violence, and extremism. These sardars and landlords do not care for the people and their problems; their distance only adds fuel to the fire. It’s about time that their illegalities are exposed and they owe responsibility for their actions.”
It is necessary to unite in order to end this trend. We can compete if we establish certain guidelines and enforce them against. In Balochistan this means: fighting against the feudal power structure, encouraging education and rationality, and empowering the oppressed to fight for their fundamental rights. This feudalistic system has to be removed in order to build Balochistan. This calls for a holistic approach which requires educational reforms, political changes and economic empowerment. There is a need to initiate workshops and seminars, and other avenues so that the youths can learn the fallacies of this system. There is also a need to change the political system so that there must be accountability of persons in authority. Lastly, there is a need to develop the local economies so that chances of creativity and business development must end dependency of masses on sardars.
Articulated by: Mir Mehrab khan: He is a student of International Relations at the University of Balochistan.
