Feudalism in Pakistan

The Feudalism in contemporary Pakistan (Urdu: زمینداری نظام‎ zamīndāri nizam) usually refers to the power and influence of large landowning families, particularly through very large estates and in more remote areas. The adjective "feudal" in the context of Pakistan has been used to mean "a relatively small group of politically active and powerful landowners". "Feudal attitude" refers to "a combination of arrogance and entitlement". According to the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (PILER), five per cent of agricultural households in Pakistan own nearly two thirds of Pakistan’s farmland.

Large joint families in Pakistan may possess hundreds or even "thousands of acres" of land, while making little or no direct contribution to agricultural production, which is handled by "peasants or tenants who live at subsistence level". Landlord power may be based on control over local people through debt bondage passed down "generation after generation", and power over the "distribution of water, fertilisers, tractor permits and agricultural credit", which in turn gives them influence over the "revenue, police and judicial administration" of local government. In recent times, particularly "harsh" feudalism has existed in "rural Sind",Baluchistan, "some parts of Southern Punjab". Feudal families influence has extended to national affairs through the government bureaucracy, the Armed Forces and the Pakistani political class. Pakistan's "major political parties" have been called "feudal-oriented", and as of 2007, "more than two-thirds of the National Assembly" (Lower House) and most of the key executive posts in the provinces were held by "feudals", according to scholar Sharif Shuja.

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