Agrarian class struggle and state formation in post‐colonial Pakistan, 1959–1974: Contingencies of Mazdoor Kisan Raj

Abstract

State formation in post‐colonial societies is often explained with reference to the roles of elites. In Pakistan, landed elites continue to dominate the rural political economy through informal and formal institutions, but the history of its largest peasant movement shows how agrarian class struggle can change the institutional forms and functions of power. The Hashtnagar peasant movement achieved lasting de facto land and tenancy reforms in north‐western Pakistan in the 1970s through forcible land occupations that were regularized by state intervention. I argue that although divisions among elites were important, the state intervened in favour of peasants due to the rising organizational power of tenants and landless labourers under the centralized leadership of the radical Mazdoor Kisan Party. Agrarian class struggle weakened the informal power of landed elites and gave rise to institutions of peasant power. However, other fractions of the ruling class sought to undermine their landed opponents while co‐opting the militancy of the peasant movement by strengthening state institutions to intervene in favour of upwardly mobile tenants. The latter were separated from poorer peasants and the landless, thus demobilizing the movement.

Modeling the regional agro-elite’s social position in rural areas’ sustainable development system

“…According to the authors, the lack of strict regulation of land ownership issues leads to negative consequences: the emergence of large landowners and the exploitation of peasants. In general, ill-considered land reforms lead to an exacerbation of social contradictions and do not contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas [7,8,9,10,11]. In this study, we note the social immaturity of the position of the local elite in the development of agrarian relations.…”

Agrarian change, populism, and a new farmers' movement in 21st century Pakistani Punjab

“…These movements were populist because tenants do not usually comprise a single class but are differentiated like other peasants by varying access to land, capital, and so on and moreover because these movements involved substantial participation of landless labourers. Yet, victories around de facto land and tenancy reforms appear to have disproportionately benefited the richer tenants over poorer tenants and landless members of the movements (Ali, 2020; Raza, 2020; Rizvi, 2019). The absence and inadequacy of “corps of cadres” (Borras, 2020, p. 27) in independently organizing landless labourer members of such coalitions may have been a determining factor in explaining why the latter were less able to wrestle benefits and why these movements did not ultimately give rise to newer generations of activists and cadres.…”

“…The PKI is "new" in the Pakistani context because it uses militant tactics to pursue the interests of owner-cultivators and populist because it brings together different rural classes and groups together to do so. Critical studies of agrarian movements in Pakistan have largely focused on left-leaning tenants' struggles for land rights, such as in the AFTAB And ALI 1970s in the North-West Frontier Province and South Punjab (Ali, 2020;Ali & Raza, 2022;Raza, 2022) and in the 2000s on military farms in central Punjab (Akhtar, 2006;Raza, 2020;Rizvi, 2019). But by 2010, tenancy had declined considerably in Punjab and over 90% of farms were operated by owners or owner-cum-tenants (see Table 2).…”

The Evolution of Leftist Politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

“…The senior communist leaders like Sanubar Hussain from Peshawar, Mohammad Hussain Ata of Hazara, Khushal Khan of Kohat, and Maulana Popalzai worked for the organization. Other members of this Jirga were Mian Akbar Shah of Badrashi, Ram Saran Nagina, Mian Mukaram Shah, Bhagat Ram Talwar, and comrade Ziarat Gul (Ali, 2020).…”