How have policies carried out by the state in the name of economic development impacted your life?
The Results
“Which state? You mean the state that has done nothing for us for the past 60 years? Life is increasingly becoming harsher for our people. For centuries fishing has been our way of life. We were once a proud people, dependent on no one except for ourselves. Now we have reached a point where we find it difficult to even survive. Most of our fishing grounds have been completely destroyed by foreign trawlers which take everything, from the largest to the smallest fish, with them. The government has sold off everything, all our assets, to these companies. We now have to go out for weeks in the deep sea where it is more dangerous to sail just to catch some fish while our women and children nearly starve at home. Now we are even being prevented from fishing in inland lakes because they have been privatized and sold off by the government to contractors. Forget private contractors, our fishing grounds in Badin were occupied for a number of years by the Rangers. Aren’t they supposed to be protecting us? What do we do? Where do we go? The state has driven us to desperation.”
Mohammad Ali Shah, President, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
“We keep hearing a lot about economic policies being made for the ‘common man.’ To date however we haven’t seen any benefits accruing to us. Instead, inflation has made our lives miserable. Just look at the how expensive flour, lentils, sugar and ghee have become. How can we afford to even survive if this goes on?”
Maula Baksh, Construction Worker,
“My ancestors have always worked as fishermen. In my fathers time we used to catch fish in such plentiful supply that a lot of it simply used to go to waste. Now we go for days on end searching in vain for fish that would be enough just to feed our family. We don’t have the nets or resources that these big trawlers do. They have nearly emptied the sea of fish. They even fish in the spawning season so that existing stocks do not replenish themselves. Our people talk about the government giving away our fishing rights to foreigners and local industrialists. I don’t know who is responsible and neither do I have time to do something about. All I know is that my children are not getting enough to eat.”
Riaz, Fisherman,
“If were to be honest, I would say that the state has only made our lives all the more difficult. Just look at the prices! Three-four years ago, things used to come for less then half of what they are sold for these days. What is the common man to do? In a few days time, they are saying that they will present a budget for the common man. We have all heard that before. Do they even know who the common man is? How does he live? What does he eat? What problems does he face? Do they even know what poverty is? They know nothing! Since I can’t hope for things to get better all I can hope for is that they don’t get any worse.”
Ataullah, Sweeper
“I don’t know what economic development means. The term is used so much nowadays that it has lost all meaning. As far as I am concerned economic development only means that the rich will get richer and the poor will, if they are lucky, remain as they are.”
Ghulam Ali, Driver
“They haven’t affected my life at all. My life is as tough as it was a few years ago.
Noor Mohammad, peon
“I don’t know much about economic development. All I know is that our lives have become very harsh ever since the government sold the fishing rights of a nearby lake to a big contractor. Before, life used to be difficult but at least we could subsist on the fish that we caught from the lake. Now my family has to work on daily wages for the contractor. I now earn a mere 40 to 50 Rs. a day. How are we even to survive if we keep on earning this much? We can’t even keep the fish with us because the contractor has his men to keep an eye on us. He says that the fish in the lake belongs to him because he paid money for it. Why the government allowed this to happen, I don’t know. Maybe they were profiting from it as well. They don’t know how their actions affect us because they don’t know how tough life can be.”
Umar Ghani, Contract Fisherman.
“Life has always been tough for us. We are only surviving thanks to the graciousness of the Almighty. We have learnt never to rely on the government for anything. We have come to know that it is better to rely on your own resources because the government has never done anything for us. If anything they try to make things more difficult for us so that they can fill their own pockets.”
Darwaish, Chowkidar.
“I get blamed all the time for selling flour at a high price. But what can I do? I myself have to buy it at a high price from middle men. They say that the government is to blame because the growers and the suppliers hoard wheat. That is why the prices go up. What can you do about them, especially when most of them are sitting in the government? All this talk about economic development doesn’t mean anything. They deliberately raise the prices so their people can benefit from it”
Ghulam Mohammad, Flour seller.
