(ii) Immediately before partition in June 1947, Sindh Assembly passed the Land Alienation Bill under which money lender Hindus, who had Muslim lands in mortgaged possession, were disallowed to sell the lands which were to be redeemed within a period of 60 years. Such a bill had already become law in Punjab allowing Muslims to resume ownership of their lands. The bill awaited Sindh Governor's assent to become law when India was partitioned.
(iii) The federal government most callously allowed the bill to lapse and tood over the entire 4 million acres, or 42% of lands of Sindh, most of which was legally owned by Sindh Muslims and was only mortgaged to money lenders, for doling out to refugees.
(iv) To rub salt in the wounds a proviso was made in the Sindh Refugees (Registration of land claims) act (Sindh act II of 1950) under which all lands sold by Hindus after 1st March 1947, four and half months before the date of partition, were declared null and void and property declared evacuee. (The notification of Sindh Refugee Act II of 1950 is enclosed in document as Vol 4.8)
(v) In the Sindh Refugees act 1950 no document was needed as evidence of property in India and neither was any filed. This act was made applicable to all refugees from East Punjab, Delhi, Patiala, Alwar, Bharatpur, and Bikanair but not UP, CP and Hyderabad Deccan.
(vi) But in 1958, the loot and plunder of lands and urban property in Sindh had gathered so many parasites from India in the garb of refugees, that a Displaced Persons (land settlement) act was passed to accomodate those UPian and Deccani claims who had migrated to Pakistan after their lands in India were seized by the Government under land reforms.
(vii) Once Ayub Khan had complained that if all claims were to be honored, the total land of West pakistan will not be enough. He issued M.L.R 89 in the year 1961 to re-verify all claims and surrender extra land obtained fraudulently but had to hastily retract from the same through M.L.R. 91 when he realized the quantum of greed and lies, so high up in the immigrant bureaucracy.
(viii) The most obnoxious proviso in settlement laws was that the settlement commissioner, or the custodian, could declare any property ``Intended evacuee,'' even though the Hindu owner was still present and living in Pakistan. Many Hindus suffered grievously through application of this proviso. (The definition of ``intended evacuee'' as per The Pakistan Act 1956, enclosed in the document as Vol. 4.9)
7 (i) In the case of urban property much the same confiscatory and anti-Sindhi policies were adopted. In 1958, Displace Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act 28 of 1958, was passed to compensate those people who came to Pakistan not because of any love for the country but were displaced due to communal disturbances in India. Again no verification was demanded. The claimant had to file an affidavit and bring two personal witnesses.
(ii) Although 64% of urban population of Sindh was Hindu almost 90% property belonged to them. In Hyderabad a town of 80,000 only one Akhund Mohalla had houses owned by Muslims. The 36% of Muslims mostly resided in rented houses.
(iii) The Displaced Persons Act had a provision mortally harmful to any future development of Sindhi nation. It was that locals were not eligible for the ownership transfer of evacuee houses and commercial property the value of which was more than Rs. 10,000.
(iv) This proviso effectively cut off whole Sindhi people from entering commercial or mercantile sphere of economic activity because the immigrant custodian never fixed the price of a commercial property at less than Rs. 10,000. Sindhis have still not overcome these cruel and discriminatory setbacks.
(v) Big mansions, hotels, cinema houses and Industrial Units were transferred to refugees by auction, the payment of which was made only through compensation books liberally issued against doubtful and even bogus claims. No local could even participate much less obtain, any such commercial property in the farcial auctions.
8 (i) The subjugation of Sindh as planned by Liaqat Ali Khan and immigrant bureaucracy aided by malicious intent by the Punjabi mimilary-bureaucracy elite was complete with commissioning of Kotri Barrage.
(ii) Ghulam Muhammad Barrage or Kotri Barrage was constructed in 1955 and has upward of 2.8 million acres of cultivable land in its command area. Sindh was taxed more than other provinces to general the 890 million rupees cost estimated for the construction of the barrage.
(iii) Of the 2.8 million acres command area, 1.1 million acres was private land whereas 1.7 million acres were government lands made cultivable due to the availability of water. Barring 20% i.e. 0.34 million acres that were left for distribution to local haris, all the remaining approximately 1.4 million acres were distributed for a pittance to civil and military bureaucrats.
9 The Sindh news media raised as much voice as its feeble reach could command but to no avail. Followin is the translation of an editorial by Moulana Khan Muhammad Nizamani in Daily Mehran on May 26, 1951.
``There is a great sense of foreboding in the minds of Sindhis that will continue to increase in case the rumor (that the barrage lands are to be doled out) gains strength.''
``After that no federal or Sindh Government should expect cooperation and friendship from the people of Sindh. Because this is a matter of bread for which we are prepared to fight with everyone...''
``The haris of Sindh have the first right over Kotri Barrage lands. Most of them do not have any land to plough, because many used to till lands belonging to Hindus. Half those lands have been alloted to Muhajirs. We will request all political and social organizations of Sindh to raise their voice in favor of getting the agricultural land for local people. We also request them to mobilize public opinion, because until and unless collective voice is raised for our rights and a joint effort is undertaken nothing will be achieved.''
10 Such editorials and many other forms of protest were used by Sindhis in order to obtain relief and justice from concerned quarters. No one came to their rescue especially the Urdu press and intelligentsia. They were quite happy to see the stark injustice being done to those people, who had offered them homes and a place in heart.
11 There are innumerable examples of the highhanded treatment meted out to Sindhis. Agriculture Development Bank, which was created to advance agriculture loans for barrage lands, was established in far away Lahore, while the barrages in question were in Sindh. Displaced people from Tarbela Dam inundation areas were given alternate lands in Guddu Barrage gommand. One Unit government in Lahore made sure that even the chowkidars of offices came from up north. Sindhis were left prostrate and friendless, their material resources being usurped like spoils of war.