46 SOCIAL SCIENTIST ronage by the previous Governments had also been resumed. The lands under the new law had been taken over without compensation. It has been truly said by some discerning observers thatAyub Khan's reforms in many cases proved to be a device to buy surplus areas of the landed gentry on terms none too unfavourable. Even more important, all the resumed land was being transferred to the tillers of the soil, free of cost, with full ownership rights without any encumbrance or liability. The Government was aware that before the advent of the Reforms, land owners were feverishly transferring land on an extensive scale and in a manner which would defeat the land reforms. To counteract these nefarious deals, the bohafides of all transactions, which took place after the 1st of March 196 7, with the exception of transfers made in favour of heirs, were made subject to scrutiny under the law. This exemption was flouted by the unscrupulous landlords. Antedate entries could be conveniendy made in the revenue record in collusion with the local revenue officers, especially of the transfers made by way of gifts, where deeds of transfer did not require compulsory registration. Such manipulations were done on a massive scale. Even oral gift is peiroossible under the law. In fact it was a serious flaw, inherent in the law itself, which gave latitude to the land lords to escape from the operation of land reforms. This also provided a handle to the land reforms tribunals in the provinces, mosdy coming from the upper classes, the protagonists of status quo, to approve the transactions without even probing into their factual existence. Federal inspection teams were appointed by the Federal Land Commission, hereafter referred to as F.L.C. On their reports suo noto revisonal proceedings were initiated by the F.L.C., against 3,263 land lords and cases of 2,712 were decided. The area wrongly retained by the big land lords, waderas ofSind, Sardars of Baluchistan, chiefs oflaghari, mazaris, tawanas ,qureshis etc*, from the Punjab and Khawanins ofN .W.F.P., through concealment, collusion, forgeries etc., and resumed in decided cases by F.L.C. upto 30th April 19?»7, amounted to 5,67,835 acres. (Out of this more than five lakh acres were resumed by the chairman alpne while the rest was taken over by six members collectively). It may be noted that these cases were verified as correct by the provincial land reforms tribunals. The toiling masses fully understand that the usurpers of their rights are none other than the elders of their own nationalities, who, even after expropriating the fruits of their labour for centuries, are not prepared even today to countenance any diminution of expropriation. All the same they profess to be champions of their rights. Is it not the case that with the intention of perpetuating their strangle hold, they want to avert class struggle as a result of the unity of the Working classes of different regions of Pakistan, which may put an end to the external as well as internal exploitation? It was due to lack of interest and underhand dealings that the network'ot land reforms hierarchy in all the four prbvinces of Pakistan could resume only 11.56,362 acres of land under Land Reforms Regulation 1972, while.as stated above, a single tribunal ofFJL.C .,on the scrunity of the cases decided