Distress against military-backed corporate farming in Pakistan aggravates
The attack on the convoy of the Pakistani President’s daughter by a group of protestors was the culmination of the simmering anger among farmers, civil society groups and even local politicians against the planned corporate farming in the country. The corporate farming plan comes under the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), an Army-driven economic strategy, which the people of Pakistan perceived as the instrument of forceful land-grabbing, and repression as well as the harbinger of agricultural and environmental degradation.
Under the GPI, lands would be acquired from farmers irrespective of their consent. This has rattled farmers across Pakistan, driving them to come together and hold joint protests. During one such meeting, farmers opposed the GPI saying the corporate farming policies would make them landless and endanger their survival. “We reject corporate farming, which is a deadly poison for peasants, agricultural workers, and small-scale farmers,” they said. “This policy is designed to destroy our lives, to fill the pockets of the capitalist class and military who are leading this initiative.”
There have been nationwide strikes against corporate strikes. Protests are getting graver and more severe as the government has continued to ignore or suppress them. Protestors set on fire the house of Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, the home minister of Sindh province after two protestors were killed during peaceful agitation. Protestors claimed that police refused to hand over the deceased’s body to the family as a part of suppression even as police raids on the protestors were going on. “Enforced disappearances, torture, and FIRs have been ongoing for a long time, but snatching the dead body is a barbaric act committed by the provincial government,” Riaz Ali Chandio, one of the protesting leaders.
The government called the protest an event of “terrorism” and continued filing FIRs against the leaders, activists and even writers under the anti-terrorism law. Criticising the “state overreach”, reputed newspaper Dawn expressed concerns over the government targeting intellectuals and peaceful protestors by implicating them under sedition laws. “It is important that the Sindh government listens to its constituents and addresses their concerns. Arrests and crackdowns will only stir more trouble,” it said in its editorial.
The leaders have refused to give in to the repressive government actions as more protests have been announced. Protestors said the corporate farming was brought to benefit the ruling elite and Army officials. The military-run Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is set to provide about 4.8 million acres of land to foreign investors or military-affiliated companies. Besides agricultural issues, the corporate farming plan would cause damage to the environment as it would tweak the flow of crucial water sources, Farooq Tariq, General Secretary of Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, a network of 26 small peasant organisations.
The initial evidence from the GPI showed that corporate farming has favoured elite people as about 900,000 acres of land have been allotted to private companies including those associated with the Army. This has led to the marginalisation of already vulnerable farming populations as the small farmers and landless communities are displaced, said Zainab Sabzwari, a behavioural economist and a public policy analyst. “In places like Cholistan and Arifwala, forced evictions and state-backed intimidation have triggered resistance, seen by locals as land grabbing disguised as modernisation,” she said.
People blamed the Islamabad government and the Army for forcefully grabbing farmers’ land in the guise of a solution to food insecurity and rural underdevelopment. Professor Khalid Memon, an agricultural economist at Sindh University, said corporate farming aimed to establish large-scale corporate agricultural ventures even as it posed an existential threat to farmers. “It’s not development; it’s dispossession,” he said. “The land is being handed over to corporate giants, many of whom are backed by political heavyweights or army-linked consortia. This is not about food—it’s about power.”
Chief of Staff Asim Munir led the Pakistani Army leads the SIFC and GPI, which play a crucial role in corporate farming. This involves the construction of canals, land acquisition, and attracting foreign investors. Pakistan has already sought up to USD 6 billion in investment from the Gulf countries for corporate farming. Ammar Ali Jan, leader of Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (HKP), called the GPI “anti-farmer” and blamed the government for “selling the country’s resources and compromising national integrity.” Taking a dig at the Army, Jan said the GPI was a “fraud” that promoted “military interests at the behest of farmers.”
