The Pakistani Dalit
The hierarchical and discriminatory caste system, legitimised by Hinduism, is so deeply entrenched in Southasian societies that it has even affected the adherents of theoretically egalitarian religions like Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and Buddhism. With the highest Hindu concentration in India and Nepal, the exploitation of Dalits is often believed to be limited to these countries. As this remarkable book explains, however, caste discrimination against Dalits is a social reality in Pakistan as well, where over 95 percent of the population is Muslim.
Pirbhu Lal Satyani knows of what he speaks: a Pakistani Hindu social activist based in Sindh, Satyani works with his country's Dalits. In this slim volume, he claims that of Pakistan's roughly 3 million Hindus, over 75 percent are Dalits of various castes, including . Meghwals, Odhs, Valmikis, Kohlis and Bhils. They reside mainly in southern Punjab and Sindh and seem to suffer the same dismal plight as their counterparts in India.
In a 1944 speech, Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared that the Muslim League would protect the rights of the Dalits, assuring them of full security. Soon after, Jogendra Nath Mondal, a Dalit from East Bengal, was appointed as the leader of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and the country's first law minister. With increasing intolerance towards minorities in post-Jinnah Pakistan, however, Mondal resigned from the cabinet and migrated to India in 1953. Today, Satyani argues, the religious minorities are at the bottom of the heap in Pakistan's social hierarchy, and among them, the worst sufferers are the country's Dalits.
In the aftermath of Partition, the majority of Hindus who stayed back were Dalits. The migration of Hindus to India continued, especially after the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, when they felt an enhanced sense of insecurity. Those fears reappeared when Muslim minorities in India were attacked by Hindu extremists, in the wake of the destruction of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992. Hindus worried that such activities would be used as a pretext by Islamic extremists in Pakistan to target them.
Lacking money and resources, Dalits in Pakistan were unable to make the same choice of migration available to upper-caste, more well-off Hindus. Satyani writes: "The Dalits are so caught up with mere day-to-day survival issues that Hindu-Muslim conflicts or Pakistan-India disputes are not as important for them as they are for rich 'upper'-caste Hindus." The fact that, for Dalits, life in India is hardly better than in Pakistan, might also have deterred migration.
Lowest of the low
Dalits in Pakistan are caught in a quagmire. Being a part of the Hindu fold, they have to face the same discrimination that minorities in general are subject to in Pakistan. The fact that they are the 'lowest of the low' even within this minority makes their position all the more vulnerable. The scourge of the caste system, coupled with their position in the class matrix, have together made Dalits one of the most deprived communities in the country. Any analysis of the situation of Pakistan's Dalits would have to locate them in the context of these multiple identities: of being poor, 'low-caste' and minority.
Satyani brilliantly narrates the structural violence that Dalits are subjected to. While there is immense diversity in their living patterns, what is common is their marginalisation and deprivation. In rural areas, most Dalits work as landless agricultural labourers and sweepers, with their huts located in separate settlements outside of the main village. They generally earn a pittance and are often forced into free labour by powerful Muslim and Hindu feudal lords. Those heavily indebted to landlords and moneylenders can expect little support from the state justice system, and have to submit to a miserable existence as bonded labourers. Land mafias in rural Sindh regularly grab lands on which Dalits have set up their huts. In most places, Dalits have no temples of their own and local Muslims often illegally occupy the few places where they can cremate their dead. In towns and cities, Dalits generally live in the poorest, most squalid slums. Discriminated against by Muslims and upper-caste Hindus alike, many Dalits have converted to Islam or Christianity.
Efforts are rarely made to ameliorate the plight of Pakistan's Dalits, and the few initiatives that have been taken seldom reach the intended beneficiaries. Many Dalits do not possess national identity cards and so cannot access various government developmental schemes. With the country's more influential and organised Christian and upper-caste Hindu communities monopolising state-sanctioned facilities for minorities, Dalits are deprived of even the basic rights meant for them.
Political marginalisation
Unlike in India, where Dalit activism is slowly finding its feet and the state system has been somewhat responsive to the plight of the 'oppressed' castes, there is hardly any organisation working for Dalit welfare in Pakistan. In the absence of strong political leadership of their own, Dalits have failed to effectively demand their rights from the state or from the larger society. Even in the most blatant cases of human rights violations, they generally do not protest. Satyani traces the inadequate political mobilisation to acute poverty, rampant illiteracy and discrimination. In many places, Dalits are not allowed to freely vote for candidates of their own choice, often forced by powerful Hindu and Muslim landlords to vote for particular candidates. The acute division among Dalits, with various Dalit castes practicing untouchability amongst themselves, has further added to the political marginalisation.
For its part, the Pakistani state prefers to promote the more influential upper-caste Hindus as 'leaders' of the Hindus, rather than also consider an alternate Dalit leadership. The state's commitment — or lack thereof — to the Dalit cause is apparent in the Punjab. Despite a population of almost 350,000 Dalits in southern Punjab (mainly in the Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur districts), there are no reserved seats for either Dalits or Hindus in the Provincial Assembly. Christians occupy all the seats reserved for minorities in the Assembly.
Affirmative action policies meant especially to encourage Dalits in government employment have been discontinued. While decades ago, M A Jinnah had provided a six percent job quota for Dalits in some government services, in 1998 the Nawaz Sharif government, assisted by some upper-caste Hindu and Christian leaders, changed the Dalit quota to a general minority quota, thus effectively denying Dalits assured access to government jobs.
Combating the oppression
The caste system is a Southasian problem, given its transborder existence across India and Nepal — and, as this book shows, in Pakistan. Satyani recommends that the issue of Dalit human rights and amelioration of their pathetic conditions be placed as part of the SAARC agenda. This would, he hopes, force all SAARC members to take the issue more seriously.
The author presents an exhaustive list of social, political and religious recommendations, meant to eliminate inequities that burden Pakistani Dalits. These include: the setting up of a national commission devoted exclusively to Dalit issues; proportional reservations for Dalit seats in the national and provincial assemblies; adequate representation for Dalits in all government services; and the revision of educational curricula to delete negative portrayals of non-Muslim communities. Recognising that class and caste issues converge against Dalits, Satyani suggests that landless labourers be granted land titles.
The author also advocates for Dalit rights within the context of the larger Hindu community, calling for the repeal of all 'black laws' against religious minorities. If Pakistan wishes to emerge as a multicultural country that respects diversity, he says, it must also give Hindu employees — including Dalits — holidays for their festivals. Dalit communities that do not have access to cremation grounds should be provided such facilities. Finally, Hindu temples presently under the control of the Waqf Department should be given back to the community. Whether Pakistan's state authorities would be willing to accede to such demands, of course, is another question.
Given the near total absence of literature on Pakistan's Dalits, this slim book is nothing less than pioneering. It is not without its limitations, however. The author could have provided district-wise figures for the Dalit population and a list of various Dalit castes in Pakistan (reportedly over two dozen). Some oral narratives would also have added value. Relations between Hindu Dalits and other similar low'-status groups among the Muslims and Christians in Pakistan might have been discussed, as also inter-Dalit differences, which have impeded efforts to promote a broad-based Dalit alliance.
Another dimension missing from the account are the rich religious traditions of the Dalits, which have historically sustained them over the centuries. The author also ignores the efforts being made by some individuals and groups in Pakistan, including several of non-Dalit background, to work for Dalit emancipation. In the course of this writer's recent visit to Pakistan, he met several such people, whose efforts need to be documented and highlighted in order to serve as a source of inspiration for others. This work by Pribhu Lal Satyani deserves to be translated into English and other languages, for it would be of considerable interest to people outside of Pakistan as well.