It is possible that there will be an unprecedented social upheaval in Pakistan in the not too distant future. This upheaval will not necessarily be organised or guided by political ideology – it would be the outcome of desperation that follows when human beings are pushed to the brink, and feel they have nothing left to lose. Or perhaps the blatant oppression that is the most prominent feature of Pakistan's social and political discourse will continue to mute any and all reaction, as has been the case for the best part of two decades. Either way, whatever little can be said and done about the outrageous abuse of power that defines the country´s political and social landscape would be a small step in the right direction.
At the very least it is important that those who purport to be committed to the welfare of the people be embarrassed into taking a stand where no one else is willing. One place where any action at all could have a massive impact is in the remote coastal fishing region of Badin, approximately 200 kilometres west of Karachi. It is in Badin where the Rangers paramilitary forces – notorious for major abuses in Karachi against landless tenants on Okara military farms and many others – are engaged in perhaps their most incredible and flagrant subversion of all by directly targeting the livelihoods of thousands of indigenous fisherfolk just to make a quick buck.
The Rangers have taken advantage of long-standing colonial laws which deprive local communities of their historical fishing rights to institutionalise a contract system of fishing through which they are able to generate massive profits reaching at least PKR 1.5 million per day. Having appointed a contractor of their choice to whom they then provide 'protection', Rangers forces intimidate local fisherfolk into selling their catch to this contractor at a fixed rate, well below the market average. For example, small shrimp are bought from the locals at a price of PKR 10 per kilogram, and then sold in the Karachi market at an average of PKR 120 per kilogram. The contractor transports the catch to the Karachi market at his own expense, and sells at his will. It has been reported that the Rangers have agreed to receive a fixed sum for the full year of PKR 37.5 million, and the contractor keeps whatever he earns on top of this figure.
There is more. Assuming an income of PKR 500 million per year, the contractor will hand over a large part of this money in individual bribes to Rangers high-ups also, to ensure that the entire Rangers hierarchy gets a share of the booty. Even then, this is the tip of the iceberg considering that the estimate of PKR 1.5 million per day is a conservative one, and the fact that this sort of extortion is commonplace in other parts of the district, and not just the few coastal areas where this particular investigation was centred. Despite the overwhelmingly blatant nature of the extortion, there has been virtually no action from the part of the administration. The Sindhi press, well known for its willingness to take on the establishment, has embellished the story as much as it possibly can, but to no avail.