সম্পদের অসম বণ্টন সম্পর্কে বঙ্গবন্ধু
১৪ ফেব্রুয়ারি ১৯৫৬
করাচী
The constituent assembly of Pakistan:
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Sir, supporting the amendment of my honourable friend, Mr. Abul Mansur, I request the friends of the Treasury Bench to consider and accept that amendment because they have started their Constitution with the words and in the name of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Sir, the salaries which the Leaders and Ministers of our country are drawing, I think, are taxing heavily the poor masses of the country. Now, what is the economic condition of the country? What is the condition of the poor masses of the country? We are making an Islamic Constitution and we are Musalmans. Sir, Islam has taught us the lesson of equal distribution of wealth according to the needs of the individuals. But Sir, here what we are seeing? A poor peon is getting Rs. 50 a month and the head of the State, who is also a Musalman, will get Rs. 12,000 per month and everything free. Are we not Musalmans? Why are we exploiting our own brethern? We cannot exploit them any more. We have exploited them enough for the last eight years as far as possible and for God’s sake do not exploit them any more in the name of Islam. Sir, in China and I have been to China …. the Chairman of the 60 crores of people of that country is taking Rs. 600 per month (Pakistani currency). Then why should a country of seven crores of people economically ruined, should pay so much? Why should we pay so much when our people are dying and are not getting food clothing and shelter, when our people are moving in the roads asking for alms, one pice or two pice for their belly; when out sisters are selling their honour for the sake of their hunger? What right have the leaders, the representatives of the people, got to take Rs. 12,000 per month? Sir, the other day an honourable Minister said that “I used to earn that much in business”. I will say, then go and earn, do some sacrifice. You have not come here to earn money, to get good house, draw touring expenses and other things. If you want to earn money you can earn outside, but when you have come as representative of the people to serve the people, then you should not become rich at the expense of the poor, because it is the poor who give the taxes, it is their money; you have no right to enjoy at their expense. Give Rs. 150 to that poor man who is getting Rs. 100 instead of giving high salaries. Bring them down from 12,000 to 5,000 and do justice to poor people. We are Musalmans. I have seen the poor employees of our Assembly working, while you have taken meal, they are on duty without meal even. You are exploiting poor people.
I do not agree with my friend because he is giving six thousand rupees. I think two or three thousand rupees per month is sufficient for any man to live decently. It is not a place to exploit. But they live in palatial buildings. I request my friends who are Ministers and those who are thinking of becoming Ministers to accept the amendment and show to the world that they are sincere to Islam; they are sincere to Pakistan and sincere to humanity.
With these words, Sir, I commend the amendment for acceptance of the House.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Sir, in supporting the amendments of my friends I want to draw your attention to some facts and I will also try to reply to what has been said by Honourable Mr. Khuhro just now. Sir, he has spoken something about the report of Mr. Masud and he wanted to defend the permanent settlement and Jagirdary system of West Pakistan. Sir, sometimes we are confused between these two words. We in Bengal say ‘zamindari’, in West Pakistan we say ‘jagirdari’. Some-how we got the property from the British Government. My friend has just now said that Lord Cornwallis gave these lands as a permanent settlement in 1793 to some people of Bengal to exploit the masses. But, Sir, there was some idea in giving these lands by Lord Cornwallis to these Zamindars and he had in his mind that these Zamindars will look after the betterment of the peasants. But what did these zamindars do Sir? They miserably failed in keeping these poor peasants contented. They suck their blood instead. They acquired enough property. They made palatial buildings in Calcutta, Ranchi, Madhupur, Darjeeling and Shillong and enjoyed their life in the midst of honey and moon and they always tortured the poor peasants and made their life miserable. Now, Sir, there is jagirdari in West Pakistan. Between the feudal landlords of East Pakistan and the feudal landlords of West Pakistan, there is no difference. Both of them have been the exploiters of the peasants from the very beginning and they are still exploiting them in the name of Islam, in the name of Pakistan, in the name of humanity. Sir I have got with me a book called, “The Permanent Settlement in Bengal’. It is an Indian Citizen series. I have got it from the Library. From the passage which I am going to quote it will be clear what was the intention of Lord Cornwallis in giving these lands to these peasants. Sir, it says: “Lord Cornwallis expected that the zamindars created by him would evince a lively and practical interest in the progress and education of their tenants; but his expectations have been falsified. The zamindars of the present day have got into the possession of the original estates by purchase or redemption of debt, and do not show the same sympathy for, and attatchment to their tenants as did the original zamindars, with whom the settlement was made. The society has thus lost a stable element which was expected greatly to influence and accelerate its progress. It was expected that the limitation of the Government demand would limit the demands on the tenants. But the system of Sub – infeudation which has been introduced since that time has not given the desired relief to the Ryots’, who have to pay for the profits of a large number of middlemen, everyone of whom successively lesses his lands to a subordinate tenure-holder at a profit. This profit is enjoyed by them without their contributing anything towards increased production.”
Now, Sir, why are we opposing compensation? My leader has just now said that one man is in possesion of 50 thousand acres of land, and I ask Honourable Mr. Khuhro who is the Revenue Minister of West Pakistan, whether he has distributed any land to the poor landless cultivators of his Province. In referring to Masud Report he said that for the first time during these seven years Honourable Mr. Khuhro has developed West Pakistan in such a way that every peasant of West Pakistan has got land. Sir, Mr. Masud was an I.C.S officer and he is still an I.C.S. officer of West Pakistan. I wonder why Honourable Mr. Khuhro has spoken for discrediting the Masud Report. I think he is not thinking of contesting Honourable Mr. Khuhro in the election. Sir, Masud Report shows the miserable plight and condition of Sind, how the zamindars exploit the poor Haris and poor peasants of this country. Sir, I would like to discuss about the note of dissent of Mr. Masud.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Our amendment is based on this that the property of the zamindars should be confiscated; no compensation should be paid to them. I wanted to show how these zamindars have luxuriously enjoyed their life at the cost of these landless cultivators who are working day and night and are dying of starvation. In Pakistan these landless cultivators have got the right to get back the lands because we have achieved Pakistan not for rich people but for the economic emancipation of the poor masses of Pakistan. We achieved independence for bettering the lot of the poor man otherwise the Britishers were better than these people who are ruling our country at present. We wanted economic emancipation from the British Imperialists and the zamindars. But what have we seen for the last eight years? The rich have become richer and the poor poorer, such is the condition going on in Pakistan. Then, Sir, Mr. Masud, who is an I.C.S. officer and who has no interest with them, has written this minute of dissent and this is what he says: “The zamindar might at any time send for the Haris’ for ‘begar’ (forced labour) for the construction of his house or sinking of a well, or some other minor work. The Haris might be called to come with his plough and bullocks to cultivate the private fields of the zaminder or to spend a few days on hunting with him; or to render some domestic service. He is thus always at the beck and call of the zamindar and he dare not refuse, as annoyance of the zamindar would spell his doom. Now Sir, that is the condition of the Haris’ of Sind. I myself have toured Sind and have seen some places. I also went there for hunting purposes and I have seen the poor cultivators of Sind. And here Mr. Khuhro says we are giving them land. Now the Revenue Minister of West Pakistan says that conditions are going to change, although they could not change them during the last 7 or 8 years and conditions of the Haris are becoming worse and worse.
(Honourable Deputy Speaker: Where is it?)
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: In Sind, Sir, in the interior of villages. They cannot get food for them.
(The Honourable Mr. M. A. Khuro: When was the Report written?)
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Some 7 or 8 years before. But during this period you have not changed the conditions of Haris. You have all along been exploiting the poor masses. Now, Sir, in East Bengal, I want to tell my friends that there was a movement about 30 years ago. It was the peasant movement and my leader, Maulana Bhashani, was there when Bengal-Assam Conference was held in 1933 and most of the zamindars, Sir, as Malik Firoz Khan Noon said and he is right, were Hindus, about 90 percent of them. But whether they were Hindus or Muslims, they were the same oppressors and suppressors of the poor masses and that is why we are against the zamindars and jagirdars of East Bengal. The Hindu zamindars were living and enjoying in Calcutta, Rajshahi and Madhupur and Muslim zaminders were enjoying in Darjeeling and Shillong and both of them were the exploiters of the poor masses of East Bengal. Now, Sir, we want not to give them compensation and distribute the land among the poor masses of the country. Now, Sir, I was telling about Mr. Masud’s report and here again I wanted to read another line from there:
“Without the removal of despotic control of the feudal lords over the mean and helpless and shelterless Haris and without the abolition of zamindari, election on adult franchise basis will be of little use for the illiterate and downtrodden.”
Now, sir, we are talking of democracy and this is the type of democracy that we are going to have. We are talking of free elections and I believe so long as Dr. Khan Sahib is there, he will try to have free elections and he can stop his officers from interfering in the elections. But how could he stop these big zamindars and these big landlords? He cannot do it. Landlords will go and ask the poor people, his tenants to vote for him and they will have no other choice because the poor peasants have to depend on him. So Zamindari is not an answer for the progress and development of the country. Sir, here I will show you from an economic report of U.N.O. entitled ‘Economic Survey of Pakistan: 1955’, what they say about this part of the world. It reads:
“However the present rate of domestic capital formation is low and the balance of payments is under severe pressure. The outstanding problem therefore is to moderate the race of industrial development and shift the emphasis more to the relatively neglected field of agriculture which continues to be the country’s principal economic asset.”
So, Sir, the statement of Mr. Khuhro is absolutely baseless because it is a report of the U.N.O. and it says that agriculture development is decreasing day by day.
(At this stage the Honourable Member saw the red light)
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Sir, one or two minute more. So, Sir, our stand is quite clear. We do not say anything about industry. We want to do away with this jagirdari system. Now, Sir, I cannot understand the stand of my friends of the United Front. I have already mentioned that because of this peasant movement, we who belong to the middle class, have got this chance to come to this Constituent Assembly and it was the result of that 30 years movement. Similarly this state of affairs will not continue for any longer time in West Pakistan also and the voice of the people who have been oppressed and suppressed will win in the end. Please read the history of China and see what had been happening there. Please do not oppress the poor masses so much. Give them some share and treat them as your brothers and they will love and respect you. If you oppress them, a day will come very soon when they will rise against you. How long you can suppress them – for another 5, 10 or 20 years and as it has been done in China, so it will be done here. This Chiang Kai Shek used to oppress them and the result was that they overthrew him.
Reference:
Iqbal, S. (1997) Sheikh Mujib in Parliament (1955-58), p. 200-208, Dhaka, Agami Prakashani