Land and Leadership in
Nepal
Khimlal Devkota
Senior Advocate/Constituent Assembly Member and PhD Scholar,
Central Department of Anthropology,
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Abstract
Land and
leadership are interrelated words both are political. Land and leadership are
related with conflict and root cause of conflict too. In this article deals especially
post conflict countries land management systems. The article is focuses on
Nepal case including few examples of post conflict countries of the world.
History of land reform with reality check of Nepalese context. Proper land use
policy is a best means of solution of conflict is a key massage of the article.
Key words: Land, Leadership,
Comprehensive Peace Accord, Conflict, Conflict resolution, Land use policy.
Introduction
Land and
leadership are independent words. Both of them derive with different meanings in
different time, space and context. Though in Nepal, land and leadership both
words are directly link with politics. Leadership, no matters, it is politics
and the land is as property. The property is a main basis of class division.
The question of class is always though issue of the politics. Therefore, in
this article I would like to justify the relationship between land and
leadership based on our historical development of Nepalese land system with the
reference of Comprehensive Peace Accord. Literature review is a basis of the
writings.
Meaning and
definition of land:
About the land
is a nature gift asset to the people. It is a major source of public property.
Naturally peoples are gifted the lands and by cultivating, by buying and
selling peoples are making their life easier and comfortable one. Land has its
legal, economical, natural and social meanings.
Specifically, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, land is in the most general sense, comprehends any ground, soil, or
earth whatsoever; as meadows, pastures, woods, moors, waters, marshes, furzes,
and heath. The word “land” includes not only the soil, but also everything
attached to it, whether attached by the course of nature, as trees, herbage,
and water, or by the hand of man, as buildings and fences. Land is the solid
material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed,
whether soil, rock, or other substance. (Black's, 1993)
According
to Oxford Living Dictionary, land is the part of the earth’s surface that is
not covered by water. ’The reptiles lay their eggs on land ‘after four
weeks at sea we sighted land’. According to oxford Dictionary of Economics, land is “a
natural resource employed as a factor of production. Land is used in economic
activity in a variety of ways: for growing crops and keeping animals; for
extracting minerals; and to provide sites for buildings and for transport and
leisure facilities. Land as provided by nature can be changed by human
activities: agricultural land can be improved by fertilizers and drainage, or
ruined by erosion.” (Oxford Dictionary of Economics, 2012)
Meaning and
definition of Leadership
Political leadership is a concept central to understanding
political processes and outcomes, yet its definition is elusive. Many
disciplines have contributed to the study of leadership, including political
theory, history, psychology and management studies. Political Leadership
reviews the contributions of these disciplines along with a discussion of the
work of classic authors such as Niccolo Machiavelli, Max Weber and Robert
Michels. [https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/political-leadership]
According
to encyclopedia the meaning of leadership is the abilities, qualities and behavior associated with the role of group leader. This role may be conferred on individuals because of personal characteristics and experience, or through tradition and/or position occupied. However, contingency approaches to leadership haveled to awareness that effective leaders are not so simply by virtue of specific characteristics orbehaviour, rather, different styles of leadership (e.g. task-oriented v. relationship oriented) are required by different situations.[https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/leadership]
Inter-relationship
between land and leadership
Land so pervasively underpins human
activity that it usually plays some role during war and civil violence. Land-related
issues figure into many violent disputes around the world. [1]Land
and leadership are interrelated concept. Land is a primary element of
civilization. Along with the civilization value of land has developed.
Civilization has been started from savagery, barbarism and nomadic and pastoral
stage. During the time of pastoral and agrarian. Agragarian age the importance
of land has increased and leadership of the societies has been taken
differently. From the very beginning, the land has considered as a source of
revenue for the government. For the people land is a tool of livelihood of
daily life. Politically society has been developed from savagery barbarism
feudal capitalistic and socialist stages. Largely society has been divided in
to status quos and progressive one. Status-quos favor to feudalism and
progressive forces wanted to move forward from capitalism to socialism. To
dismantle feudalism and to achieve socialism through capitalism is a huge
challenging task for politics and feudalism lies on land. Therefore, land and
political leadership are interrelated.
Land reform and
role of leadership
We do not have
exact statistics of our different categories of land. It is because of fast
moving migration and changing occupations from agriculture to industrial
sectors. However, we have legal limit of land-by-land reform Act, i.e. on hilly
area upper limit to holdings the size of land is 7.3 hectors. In the tarai,
1.55 hectors, in Kathmandu Valley 3.75 hectors. Although we know the number of
holdings above these limits has sharply decreased since 1964, we also know that
an unknown number of owners have found ways to conceal the true size of their
holdings by registering these under different persons or names. (Adhikari J. ,
2008)
Estimation of
the land holding size is that almost 7.5% of rural households still hold nearly
a third of the farming area. Around half of all the other holdings are too
small to live on (under 0.5 ha). Another estimation is that at least 10% of the
rural population (2.3 million people or 482,000 households) have absolutely no
shelter or farmland of their own land. Government is the largest landowner in
Nepal. It owns all the forests and pastures although it increasingly gives
communities rights to use and manage these. The biggest differences in land
holding are between the Tarai, hills and mountains and between men and women.
The problem is to manage land with appropriate land use policy by distributing
the land to the landless from the government owned or taken from others
landowners.
Reality check of the land holding system:
About
0.5 million people are landless in Nepal and more than 60% of the total
population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Most farmers, however,
smallholders own less than 0.5 hectares. Increased land grabbing, forced
eviction and private interests prevailing over common ones are persistent
challenges for people who live on and from the land, for land rights defenders
and for civil society organizations. We need strong leaders with strong
negotiation skills to initiate dialogue to fight for land rights at different
levels. (http://www.landcoalition.org/en/regions/asia/blog/leadership-action)
Studies say
that there are many landless in the Tarai and many more large landowners in the
Tarai than in the rest of the country. Eastern Region more than other regions
has proportionately more households with large farms but also many landless.
Central Region has the greatest proportion of landless and marginal farms
overall.
Ownership by
caste is as expected higher castes own more land and rent in less. Eighty
percent of Tarai Dalits and 67.4% of Danuk own no land or only a shelter. Among
ethnic groups, Raji, Santhal, Jhangad, Kisan, Munda and Raute have the least
land to live on. In 2001, only 14% of registered owners were women. This has
risen sharply since 2007 when Government ordered that women, Dalits and other
disadvantaged groups should pay lower transaction fees. Registration in the
names of women nearly doubled in 50 districts in 2007/08 but most of this was
probably in urban areas. (Adhikari j. , 2008)
About 16% of
farming, households are registered as tenants but in practice 37% of rural
households are tenants. Almost 1.5 million households are registered rest are
unregistered tenants. 21% of households are unregistered and do not have the
chance to acquire part of the land. Many of them cannot even get a receipt for
the crop share they pay. Lack of appropriate proof most of the tenants are
unable to register. Bonded labor arrangements is also land related issue. There
could be up to 100,000 affected households. Around 14,000 have been provided
with small plots of their own. Ex-kamaiya issue is also incomplete yet.
Absentee
landlordism is extremely high but figures unknown. This is so also for areas of
idle land, which could be cultivated. Usually the two go together. Many owners
keep their land idle because they do not want tenants to claim rights to the
land.
Land Reform in
Nepal: historical development:
Nepal has been
attempting to reform rural land relations for more than 50 years. This began in
1953 with abolition of the Jagir system awarding army officers and Rana family
members controlling rights over land in lieu of salaries and recommendations
for tenancy reform in the Tarai, put into law in 1957. In 1957-59, tax-free
land grants made to noblemen over the last 100+ years (Birta) were turned into
taxable private property rights and all forest and other uncultivated land made
Government Land. The Nepali Congress Party partly won the first multi-party
election in 1960 on the slogan ‘land to the tiller’ and although the King
dismissed the government, he was forced to introduce a moderate land reform.
This was laid out in the Lands Act 1964.
Land: under
Panchayat led by the then King Mahendra
By dismissing
the elected government and introduced party less panchayat system led by the
then king Mahindra. The king was in amount pressure to do something. Therefore,
he started his reform through land reform movement. After long preparation
king, Mahindra announced the land reform act 1964. (Government of
Nepal, 2021) .
The aim of the act was to modernize the system and proper utilization of land
and to address the problem of the landless people. To fulfill the need of the
time the land reform act started number of reform. Some of them are following:
i)
Systematic tax
collection: For the purpose of the tax collection from land during the
panchayat era, they abolished the tax-collecting intermediaries in the villages
and task deputed to district revenue offices; including taxable raikar land.
Ceilings on farm sizes, lowered again in 2001, compensation for the surplus
land above ceilings to be paid largely in Treasury Bills which holders could
use as collateral;
ii)
Systematic land
management: for the purpose to systematize the land management including
defining the rights of landowners and tillers the tenant rent limited to 50%
since 1997 by amending the land acts. Only the written agreement considered as
a legitimate for tenant system. Abolition of communal land ownership system
Kipat has been abolished. Registration
of tenants, amended in 1997 to require that registered tenants be given 50% of
the owner’s land. Compulsory Savings Scheme to make credit available and
regulation of moneylenders; and Commission to regulate land use and consolidate
parcels.
iii)
Major legislations:
Taxation reform in
1961 abolishing Rajya (local fiefdom tax collection) and Rakam (compulsory
labor) and untouchability in 1963; Land (Survey and Measurement) Act 1963
providing for a new survey and registration system; Land Revenue Act 1978
setting up devolved system of taxation and administration in District Land
Revenue Offices and also declaring all unregistered land to be public or
Government Land. Ukhada Act 1964 transferring Ukhada land in three Western
Tarai Districts to tenants on payment of Rs 510 per bigha; Jhora Area Act 1971
enabling tenants to buy cleared forest in three Eastern Tarai Districts from
absentee owners; Guthi Sansthan (Trust
Corporation) Act 1972 (amended four times), to manage State Guthi, and bringing
rent and ceiling restrictions into line with other lands; National Parks and
Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 bringing 19% of the country under parks and
removing indigenous communities; Nationalization of Grazing Lands Act 1974
nationalizing these but allowing VDC management and fee collection; Land
Acquisition Act 1977 upholding rights of landowners to claim compensation if
land taken for public purpose;
After
restoration of multiparty democracy: Led by party leaders
Forest
Act 1993 extending the 1957 nationalization of Birta forests to all forests and
providing for Community Forests to enable local access and management. Kamaiya
Labor (Prohibition) Act 2002 abolished bonded labor arrangements and cancelling
debts; Minimum Agricultural Wage established in 2003.Contracts Act 1999
exempting leased lands from ceilings; Finance Act 2004 giving women, Dalits,
Janajati and family members of those martyred 20% waiver on registration fees.
Under
Republican Interim Constitution: Led by party leaders including Maoist Party
After
the decade long insurgency and popular movement of 2006 fundamental changes has
made in Nepali politics. Last decade long arms struggle turned into peace
through comprehensive peace accord. The conflicting parties were reached in
conclusion that the root cause of the conflicts is political. The political
cause has to be resolve by state restructuring and forward-looking change by
socio economic transformation. For this
purposes land reform, scientific land use policy, and equal distribution of
land has to be implemented. These are the political leaders have identified the
task during the time of negotiation and translated into interim constitution.
Contribution of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2006 (Government of Nepal, 2006) can be described as
following:
The
Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 says about land in Articles 19, 20 33 &
35. (Government of Nepal, 2007)
(1)] Every citizen shall, subject to the laws
in force, have the right to acquire, own, sell, dispose of and otherwise deal
with property. (1) [2]
(2) The State shall not, except in the public
interest, requisition or acquire, or otherwise create any encumbrance on the
property of any person, but this clause shall not apply to any property earned
in an illicit manner.[3]
(3)
There shall be given compensation for any property requisitioned, acquired or
encumbered by the State in the course of enforcing a scientific land reform
programme in the public interest, in accordance with law. Law therefore shall
determine the compensation, the basis thereof and the procedure. [4]
(4)
The son and daughter shall have the equal right to ancestral property.[5]
Comprehensive
Peace Accord 2006[6]
Comprehensive
Peace Accord has been signed by government and rebellion leader in 2006 to end
the arms conflict. (Government of Nepal, 2006) The State is obliged to set a common minimum
program on socio-economic transformation doing away with feudalism in all its
forms and keep on implementing the programme, and to pursue a policy of –
a. implementing a scientific land reform
program by doing away with feudal land ownership;
b.
providing social economic security including land to the landless squatters,
bonded laborers, tillers, Harawa-Charawa as well as the economically and
socially backward classes;
c.
according priority to the local communities while mobilizing the natural
resources and heritages of the country in such a manner as to be useful and
beneficial to the interest of the nation;
d.
making a special provision based on positive discrimination for the minorities,
landless people, landless squatters, bonded laborers, the disabled, backward
regions and communities and conflict victims, the women, Dalit, indigenous
nationalities, Madhesi and Muslims as well; and
e.
making provision for the basic land requirement for the settlement of bonded
laborers and for their education after determining the number of such laborers.
Facing
land related challenges: some experiences:
Studies
has revealed and analyses the sensitivities of the land in post-conflict
issues. Though it is country specific however the nature is common. The
commonalities of the studies has concluded as followings:
“The
post-conflict period is often characterized by significant land-related
challenges. There is often an acute housing shortage due to destruction caused
during the course of the conflict, but also, in urban areas, due to new demands
for housing by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), returnees and the
international assistance community. Public buildings, including schools and
government offices, must be evacuated and rehabilitated. Land and property
claims multiply and people often attempt to secure or restore their rights. At
the same time, land grabbing and illegal allocations may increase, as loyalty
in combat is rewarded in the only readily available currency: land. Landmine
contamination can limit access to agricultural land, forests and settlements.
With the end of civil war, old alliances may end and internal competition may
manifest itself through competition for land and resources. Where
administrative and ethnic borders overlap, there can be new tensions and even
conflict as groups seek to expand their borders, control valuable resource
areas or simply consolidate their populations in order to be able to make stronger
claims for state resources in the future” (Land and Conflict, 2012)
A
few examples of post-conflict situations are considered hereafter. (LEMMEN, 2012)
In
Kosovo there is a real challenge to manage the structural difficulties
especially in the land and the people with the references to market economy.
The transition to a market economy is made more difficult owing to the
discriminatory policies of the last decade and the legacy of the conflict,
which has left its marks on the land, the people, the economy and the hope for
the future. The rebuilding of society and the physical infrastructure is
proceeding. A significant milestone has been achieved with the execution of the
democratic elections of 2001 and the establishment of the Provisional
Institution of Self-Government in Kosovo (PISG) from January 2002. The PISG has
clearly established its intention to develop sound economic and social policies
based upon democratic principles as evidenced in the framework of the agreement
signed between the political parties of the 28th February 2002, and further
elaborated in the policy document of 2nd May 2002.
Consolidating
the democratic structures, Increasing the transparency and efficiency of the
administration, Improving educational standards for all inhabitants of Kosovo,
Improving the quality of the health of all inhabitants of Kosovo, Promoting
economic development and international economic Co-operation, Increasing
employment, Establishing pension insurance & social assistance for
vulnerable groups and Integrating all ethnic communities into Kosovo society,
these all eight priorities represent the government focus and several of them
directly impact the land and leadership.
In
Guatemala the World Bank indicates that the most is poverty of rural area
affects over 75% of the population, 86% of the rural population and 93% of the
indigenous population. Land issues are key for poverty alleviation. These
issues include land as a property rights, and land distribution. In the Treaty
of Peace, has indicates: ’… to establish an efficient decentralized multi-user
land registry and cadastral system that is financially sustainable, subject to
compulsory updating and easy to update…’ According to this, fair distribution
and tenancy of land is one of the solutions for peace in the country, where 90%
of land are not registered. (Peace Treaty, 1996)
In
Cambodia, on Oct. 23, 1991 a peace treaty was signed in Paris with elections
planned for 1993. Nevertheless there still exists a context in which land grabs
are common, and the protection of land rights is weak. Passage of the 2001 Land
Law appears to represent a break with past practice, with the Law having
support from the highest levels, but how that support will play itself out in
practice remains to be seen. The Land Law establishes for the first time the
right of private ownership for both residential holdings and agricultural
holdings and establishes a parcel based registration system. The newly created
Council for Land policy still has to resolve troublesome issues. (Peace Treaty, 1991)
In
Afghanistan Mr. Hamid Karzai became chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority on
22nd December 2001. In June 2002 the Loya Jirga appointed Mr. Karmai as the
President of the Afghanistan Transitional Administration of the Transitional
Islamic State of Afghanistan. The Administration adopted in 2002 a National
Development Framework that revealed the following ambitions with respect to
land: ‘…Access to land is regulated through Islamic and customary law. There is
a need for a program to produce nationwide land registry and to settle disputes
between individuals and groups on land. Such a registry would allow for the use
of land as collateral for entrepreneurial activities’ (Peace Treaty , 2001)
In
El Salvador, the civil war ended in 1992 with a Peace Treaty, followed by a
National Plan for Reconstruction that has as one of the fundamental pillars the
creation of a new agricultural policy, providing for security of land tenure. (Peace Treaty,
1992)
In
Rwanda the Peace Treaty of Arusha 1993 between the Government of Rwanda and the
Front Patriotique Rwandais terminated the genocide. Article 2 of the Treaty
dictates the repatriation of refugees and the resettlement of displaced
persons, giving them right to access to land. Registration of lands and
certificates of land titles should provide for Land tenure security. (Peace Treaty,
1993)
Nepalese Context:
Lack of scientific land use policy:
Land use policy has not formulated yet. Though number of time, it was called
and mentioned in election manifesto and common minimum program of the
government. The migration problem is in climax. Urbanization process has been
speed up rapidly. Therefore, the land from the urban area has been used for
building construction and land from rural area turned into deserted. No policy is being policy in terms of land
use policy. Land of rural area used for making road by using dozar without any
engineering and designing. Most of the cultivated and fertile land has been
used either building house or road. Unfortunately, settlement pattern has been
changed due to land use policy.
Absentee landlordism: Due to
urbanization process and modernization social life, mostly youth generations
are not in rural area. Finding jobs or occupation, they are in urban area
mostly in district headquarters then aboard. Agricultural based economy and
rural based settlement pattern, when youth generations are in flying mood to
urban then aboard the result is increase of absentee landlordism.
Unequal distribution of land:
Nearly 16% of farming households are registered as tenants (541,802
households). However, it is known that around 1.8 million households were
renting in land in 2001. Comprehensive but highly localized surveys suggest
that up to 37% of rural households are tenants. We estimate that around 1.5
million households are tenants today. One million are unregistered and do not
have the chance to acquire part of the land they farm, sometimes for decades.
Many cannot even get a receipt for the crop share they pay. The threat of
eviction hangs over all tenants and the tenant farming has become highly mobile
over the last decade or two, farmers moving on after one or two years .
Continuation of problems of landless:
The problem of landless is not a new one. Every new government job is to setup
land commission and receiving the reports then nothing as a regular job. If
this is the working style then continuation of problem is obvious. Land is core
content of the society. It is core element of economy and it is core element of
the revolution too.
Root cause of the problems: The root
cause of the conflict is a land. Throughout the world almost 40 countries they
are facing conflict and the main root cause is the land. Every post-conflict
countries land reform issue has taken transitional justice issue including root
cause of the conflict. Most of the conflicting parties agreed to address the
land issue mainly equitable distribution and liberation from feudal nature of
the land use policy.
Relation
to Comprehensive Peace Accord:
The one of the
root cause of the conflict was land. Therefore, in very popular document of the
peace process the Comprehensive Peace Accord [CPA] is related with the land.
Several places the land has been mentioned. The High-level land reform
commission was proposed as a transitional justice mechanism. The spirit of land
to the tiller, to resolve the problems of landless peoples and scientific land
distribution and land use policy was expected from the commission.
Land dispute,
contradictions between landlords and landless and scientific land use policy
were the major issues of the Maoist led peoples war from 1996-2006. The 2006
The Comprehensive Peace Accord expected to end feudal landownership and to
pursue scientific land reform. This was rightly pointed out in the Interim Constitution
2006. Based on the interim constitution and the first republican government
included in the Common Minimum Programme in 2008. Development and prosperity is
a challenging task of post-conflict Nepal. Scientific land reform, modernization
and industrialization of agricultural sectors and invite foreign direct
investment are pertinent issues.
A High Level
Land Reform Commission has never been established instead of that traditional
type of land reform commission. The regular types of commissions has been setup
even after 2009 too. However not much tangible result in visible... Neither the
commission has not been done recommended scientific land use policy nor
distributes the land to landless people. Again we have a new constitution
called Constitution of Nepal has mentioned about land rights and land
management for whole and especially for landless peoples. (Constitution
of Nepal, 2015)
Conclusion
and Recommendation:
Land and
leadership are interrelated issues. In Nepalese context land reform issue shape
according to leadership attitude. BP koirala government has plan to land reform
but the then king Mahendra take over the power by military coup then King
introduces land reform campaign. Duel ownership problem are complicating the
issue and badly impact on productivity. Country suffered from autocracy then
whole concentration has on democracy movement. However, land reform issue is
closely related with the political and democratic movement. Parties linked
their program into the land reform policy but implementation is poor.
Maoist movement
started based on peasant movement then land to the tiller is a popular slogan
again the main objective was to establish republican rather than land reform.
The slogan was that if political achievement we obtain then others minor
problems will be resolve own and own. Mostly based area they tried to resolve
the land problem by confiscation of absentee land, try to redistribution by
equal manner and scientific land use policy but because of second priority
tangible change has not been made.
As a
post-conflict issue, the land has taken seriously by the struggling parties
during the time of agreement. After sinning agreement parties focused on
election, again the land issue subsided. Commissions has been made
recommendations also has been made but due to poor implementation problems
issue remaining same.
Paradigm shift
has been taken place in the sector of politics. The land issue also has been
equally impacted. Society has been shift from feudal to capital but the land
and production relation is remaining same this is the contradiction. This
contradiction has to be resolve. Substantive economy has to be change according
to global economy accordingly, land relations also has to be changed.
A finally yet
importantly agricultural sector has to be modernized and industrialized for the
fulfillment of the slogan of prosperous Nepal and happy Nepali. For the sake of
prosperity and economic development, country has to achieve double-digit
growth. For this purpose, foreign direct investment has to be attracted in
agricultural sector then only agricultural based economy able to contribute to
the goal of economic development and prosperity.
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[1] https://www.land-links.org/issue-brief/land-disputes-and-land-conflict/
[2] Article
19 of the Interim constitution of Nepal 2006
[3] Article
20 of the Interim constitution of Nepal 2006
[4] Article
33 of the Interim constitution of Nepal 2006
[5] Article
35 of the Interim constitution of Nepal 2006
[6] A
Document signed by prime minister and rebellion leader to end arms conflict in
2006.
