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Read article 4/1/2007 - Double Edged: Poverty, illiteracy and sectarianism flourish in southern Punjab by Nicholas Schmidle Double Edged Poverty illiteracy sectarianism flourish southern Punjab places earthwhere feudalism still exists Are landlords problem solution By Nicholas Schmidle April WALI KHAN MAZARI STOOD IN THE DRIVEWAY country estate recent spring afternoon southern Punjab fidgeting mobile phone while servants trimmed sprawling front The servants stood rusty blade affixed underneath pulled white speckled humps their necks The occasionally spanked animals hollered speed Mazari Rolex watch olive green shalwar kameez white Nike sneakers contemplated buying modern powered lawnmower But decided local people needed Just could operate tractor while method required least Mazari sardar tribal chief ruling roughly Baluchis consider their banker judge police chief Servants scurry around estate holding trays snipping hedges They along tenants Mazari tucked southernmost corner Punjab their heads Instead reciprocated handshake capture Mazari right theirs Mazari governs lands feudal traditions which means makes decides implementation appropriate punishments someone breaking Similarly declares whether outsiders welcome acres which Indus River adjacent Sindh Baluchistan When troupe bearded fundamen Wali Khan Mazari chief Baluchi tribe southern Punjab takes evening talist Muslim missionaries recently asked permission preach about Islam Mazari rejected outright I someone Islam I Mazari looks tribal chief stock broker early retirement golfing Key West He chock longish graying slightly shaped waistline wears eyeglasses tinted purple About weight tugging baggy length tunic similarly roomy pants That disadvantage these things You notice getting Mazari describes himself tennis player plans build floodlit court estate Maybe Syrian lives practices Vancouver first lives Karachi visit often In meantime himself entertained Mazari renovated family sprawling plantation bachelor His mother lives other In marble floored library living walls lined books I browsed titles Chekhov Hemingway Martin Heidegger Jimi Hendrix albums stood among stack LPs On third poster sized Samsung screen television Mazari poured himself tumbler Ballantine scotch He apologized poured While living Boston during college years Sloan fellow MIT during 1980s apparently cultivated appreciation scotch He despaired these Pakistan drive twelve hours Islamabad bottle Ballantine When I asked place lording tribe people seemingly little common Mazari shook question never crossed His father sardar before When Mazari naturally It matter having anything common tribesmen The tribe rightfully His ancestry proved Educated urbanites society activists deeply critical people Mazari feudal tribal traditions represent They feudalism perpetuated social inequalities result disillusioned young embraced Islam Several jihadi organizations including Sipah Sahaba Shia outfit Jaish Mohammad suspected assassination attempts President Per Musharraf December based southern Punjab Moreover civil society activists attribute southern Punjab soaring rates illiteracy their words overall backwardness oppressive social condi tions created landlords Mazari estimates percent tribesmen newspaper about percent tribeswomen Wajadan skinny cameraman Reuters early Multan described feudals Hitler We should break feudal lords Mohammad Abdul Saboor national field coordina Pattan Multan based NGO working improve human rights women rights southern Punjab Saboor believes deleterious customs plaguing society southern Punjab honor killing rapes Honor killing members family female relative sometimes sister daughter order amend family honor light woman dishonorable Gang often employed punishment Mukhtaran Mai woman raped whose attracted international attention comes village drive Multan Mukhta Mai story victim It about landowner landless Saboor The landlords maneuvering their benefit So problems could solved reforms The government enacted reform twice before 1950s again early 1970s The reforms succeeded breaking largest holdings The Mazari family instanc owned acres Pakistan formed today about acres But forms failed landowners power The feudals wealth The strip markets stalls Mazari property suffered still NES anyone Whoever happened ruling Pakistan still needed their support Big powerful landlords dominate rural areas throughout Pakistan Many trace their legitimacy auspicious religious background assert selves spiritual guides Or Mazari resort tribal bonds What landowners Punjab apart those other provinces While other provinces suffer severe water shortages Pun rivers PANJ Five AB Water extremely fertile making owners especially Between scotch Mazari phone through evening people asking favors An riend called because finished college opening level position company based nearby The though utterly unqualified thought sounded His calling hopes Mazari would phone behalf When Mazari incredulous exasperated This doesn first thing about It absurd request Mazari tipped another splash scotch drink leaned black leather chair He chuckled These people think I miracles MULTAN BY PAKISTANI STANDARDS relatively wheeling Renowned handi crafts especially stenciled vases thriving music drama scene One evening March Wajadan Reuters journalist insisted Majeed Theater He regular there He guaranteed theatrical experience would unlike other I A cultural Majeed owner theater office filled cigarette smoke behind covered fliers He handed Wajadan front tickets hurried seats The performance already started A middle slender attractive young woman couple something acted stage The fashioned mustache shape handlebar played landlord Every member which there least dozen mocked culed landlord behind while kissed praised Occasionally landlord smacked someone rubber audience erupt laughter People enjoy theme Wajadan The young attractive woman played landlord daughter She heavy makeup dulled reflection stage lights spandex tight hugging shalwar kameez She stage point after being landlord When returned minutes later speakers crackled boomed An electronic drumbeat rolled piercing recorded female voice ONE TWO thrusts right woman started dance A smile washed Wajadan Now I under stood People enjoyed theme The daughter alone stage hands upper torso pushed breasts together She mimicked moves dancer glared wearing front He early When dancer promptly loosened The audience frequent Majeed Theater dance coming blissful silence Eventually musical interlude INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS plotline resumed Shortly after power A lanky actor drawn candle cross legged stage recited poetry Seraiki language spoken people southern Punjab Thirty minutes later lights still actor catalogue memorized poems dwindling Wajadan begrudgingly conceded should We planned leave early almost You another dance asked On until dancers ON TOP OF A HILL IN THE CENTER Mul Sufi saints grandfather grandson tombs smell rosewater pilgrim sweat Historians credit elder bringing Su mystical branch Islam Indian subcon tinent century Every anniversary deaths pilgrims flock shrines carrying whatever afford sacrifice A might slaughter The rupees change padlocked donation boxes while shoulder which spoon needier pilgrims Everyone comes prayer wealth child Inside shrine younger saint Shah Rukn Alam portly tender Pigeons overhead perched edges bricks domed ceiling Tea lamps burned petals floated shallow bowls water The asked where I I America You It grace Allah I Most residents southern Punjab follow mystical times perstitious version Islam Hundreds saints entombed Multan alone during annual celebrations commemorate known worshippers throng their shrines dance music The convergence masses myths manifests tranced exhausted pilgrims staring space while quick opportunistic hands profiteers boxes useless Chinese trinkets But tions politics carries spirit confrontation Only common mostly people begging miracles saint Mufti Abdul Qavi comes family saints Though officially spiritual guide elderly father alive possesses sainthood people still advice spiritual matters He pointed stack letters bundled rubber arrived morning people inside Pakistan requesting proper Islamic swers problems including patch marriage whether prayer necessary airline flights exact direction should point while Qavi sincerity silver streaked beard On afternoon Wajadan I visited madrassa Multan lambskin tweed waistcoat fitted shalwar kameez collegiate rimless spectacles He passed around sohan halwa sweet sticky Multan delicacy almonds pistachio carda seeds butter He first pinched himself Sohan halwa plays society smacking gooey dessert rooting tongue around inside mouth dislodge stuck pieces The connects people while halwa connect teeth Qavi through middle century everyone Indian subcontinent simply followed There sects Sunnis Shias fight Then mullah established himself Qavi blames sects madrassas years British mischief The British ruled subcontinent He Britain strategy subduing Muslims India Bangladesh Pakistan followed policy divide T British mullah money build their madrassas Since status Naeem resident Multan early youngest siblings later explained problem mullahs stand between Allah Doesn thing I cases common people themselves unfit decide Islamic matters either mullahs decide He conceded point slight shoulder shrug maybe added difference doctrine The culture surrounding Sufism saints added relished rigid rules The mullah there create tension amongst Muslims while Allah creation Naeem I unsatisfied expression because snatched remote control coffee table hotel around perform magic trick Look hands remote Turn whatever channel But mullah hands remote This button broken Don press button This button If ascent mullah downfall first began under conniving British Qavi trend accelerated rapidly during 1980s under Americans alliance formed drive Soviet Afghanistan Pakistan slick mustachioed military ruler General Zia Haq himself fervent Islamist eagerly channeled crates Kalashnikovs suitcases donors Washington Riyadh network mosques madrassas mujahideen based Afghanistan Pakistan Gradually previously pervasive spirit tolerance replaced militant In their Friday sermons mullahs demanded families their Af hanistan where noble cause jihad awaited Towns renamed honor warriors On leading Multan Bahawalpur another southern Punjab street notifies motorists nearby village named Mujahidabad Town Mujahideen But before Afghanistan ended mujahideen Pakistan returning turning their Kalashnikovs fellow countrymen opposite usually Shi In firebrand mullah Jhang located point where Jhelum Chenab rivers intersect transformed mosque fountainhead sectarian hatred Even tually hatred spread corners country Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi firebrand formed organization called Sipah Sahaba Army Companions Prophet Jhangvi processions through streets Jhang chanting Kafir Kafir Shia Kafir kafir infidel believer INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS militia sufficiently trained unleashed Pakistan Shia community bombings assassinations Sipah Sahaba enjoyed great success attracting members around Jhang This largely because social economic situation wealthy landowners Shia while masses whether impoverished tenants rural areas banites Sunni Over decades people Pakistan sectarian All these groups developed ignorant areas Mufti Abdul Qavi These people desperate receive donations abroad Qavi claimed Shia Iran Sunni Arab states waged proxy Pakistan funding militant groups their But people Pakistan I Why these jihadi groups forming interior Baluchistan interior Sindh The Sindhi Baluchi tribal system strong Qavi answered Powe tribal chieftains Wali Khan Mazari govern their areas strict dictatorships But southern Punjab landlords smaller The mullah anything wants tribal customs strong AHERD OF SHEEP RUMMAGED THROUGH trash recent Tuesday lunchtime intersection Jhang while Wajadan directions attendant We Multan morning around after driving three hours crusty villages baked groves mango trees arrived dusty congested center Jhang The attendant pointed south shook pointed north shook again pointed Wajadan detecting confusion turned policeman uniform standing watching nearby asked directions mayor office Mahmood Nazar Hayat Khan nazim mayor Jhang hefty hands He spoke softly moved deliberate someone cherishes sight other people hurrying around Twenty people raced around office scribbling documents indicate where should sliding notes under forearms which rested He powder shalwar kameez tugged straight hairs mustache After minutes small I mentioned Sipah Sahaba Hayat Khan abruptly raised nodded direction where shifted handful aides The aides locked Hayat Khan I cushions couch This better environment talking In January Musharraf banned Sipah Sahaba handful other sectarian militias holding public meetings printing literature Nevertheless Sipah Sahaba running pendent election National Assembly October general tions constituency Jhang Assassins killed bodyguards later Over ernment relaxed restrictions Sipah Sahaba allowing rally Islamabad spring At tendees chanted Kafir Kafir Shia Kafir distributed DVDs showing Taliban Qaeda attacks onAmerican troops Iraq Afghanistan I suspected Sipah Sahaba making quiet comeback What Jhang politics I asked Hayat Khan To politician urban Jhang mayor You nothing besides their support Out administrative visions known unions Sipah Sahaba supporters Un officially Hayat Khan stressed Although government means registered party members which Hayat Khan aides estimated nationwide prohibited running office plenty surrogate politicians willing serve organization The mayor added The public A drinking milky office Hayat Khan I white Toyota Corolla headed mosque where began Jamia Haq Nawaz Jhangvi Trailing dozen mayor aides fellow politicians packed other sedans Our caravan snaked through single roads connect Jhang until construc blocked We walked The midday baked empty narrow dusty alleys The mosque corner three intersec It small hardly hundred worshippers I imagined overflow pouring dusty streets before killed Jhangvi inveigh against Shia On praying inside mosque colored toothpaste green orange truck A perverse welcome hammered above entrance It It forbidden Shia enter Shia mentioned inside We stayed minutes On Hayat Khan phone While mayor NES brand black Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV Sipah Sahaba fluttered stiff breeze billboard advertising fertilizer Three later employee Pakistan Na tional Bank lived Mazari There problems Sunni Shia violence because there Shia But Mazari sisters Shia converted married Shia husbands I Sipah Sahaba canvassed these villages distributed venomous pamphlets sometime another during existence Moreover I thought bigotry often festers isolation The there Shia families living nearby guarantee there weren sectarian tensions All takes incendiary mullah pulpit The Friday Mazari stood leaning slightly hands facing small mosque short strip shops markets property Worshippers milled about waiting sermon begin When I asked Mazari where mullah leads prayers delivers sermon flashed satisfied almost devious smile He always local I appoint mullah Earlier morning Mazari summoned three dozen tribesmen dueling clans spacious ceilings where chair maroon leather heard their The dispute revolved around theft conditioning When Barkat Khan small graying realized fetched policemen drove straight village rival fingered rival chief guilty After hearing sides version story Mazari explained first problem Barkat police In future The second problem involved dishonor rival chief after being arrested obliged spend whole afternoon station waiting A scribe recorded Mazari words legal When Mazari finished adjudicating ordered Barkat Rupees US rival chief This afford justice Mazari leaned To decision final scribe around circle observers their Since illiterate couldn write scribe carried inkpad The illiterate pressed their thumb document Mazari tribe probably backwards Baluchi tribe Most cases decides stolen conditioner involve someone blaming someone offending their honor Barkat rival chief immediately waived Rupees US Barkat saying issue about honor money Four years Mazari couldn remem exact middle servants caught having unmarried woman bushes edging front family estate The woman family rushed scene declared people black Following tribal customs lovers killed close range Once someone declared masculine feminine their families honor considered damaged until guilty killed Most often family woman killed preserve families honor seeks compensation As Mukhtaran Mai family sometimes hands sister daughter raped In other cases guilty gives daughters replace woman family killed Pre pubescent girls desirable I Mazari referring bartering young girls Unfortunately added loses those situations caught frolicking sugarcane fields innocent daughter A couple years Mazari precedent unique ruling involving murdered escaped The family demanded Rupees US compensation husband family husband having family longer income They husband daughter offer So Mazari vinced family lower their expected reward while still obliging husband family amount which eventually He INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Institute Fellows chosen basis character previ experience promise They young professionals funded spend minimum years carrying designed programs study writing outside United States The Fellows required report their findings experiences field month They write subject formally informally The result unique reporting analysis periodic assessment international events issues On Mazari property setting resembles flaming Creamcicle difference established special orphaned child When proper years would dowry control deciding married Mazari conceded difficulty trying reform regressive customs But pleased He I keeping traditions alive easing others while still giving justice people ON THE SAME DAY THAT MAZARI ruled against Barkat condi tioner dispute Barkat The youth totally unsatisfied decision against Barkat minds other words those enough understand tribal culture He added We dislike sardar system sardar Mazari person A kilometers stall among shops comprise mercial section Mazari unemployed totally disagreed He Mazari touch people We people there He pointed direction Mazari estate They saying there Whose responsibility provide I asked Mazari Musharraf Musharraf doesn visit But sardar every He knows situation It problem He needs government His anger escalating while night falling quickly The morning Juma Mazari driver drove station Sadiqa Juma early looking He wives sleep along Juma I asked whether thought tribal system could endure criticisms coming called progressive civil society activists Multan Lahore other cities He tightened muscles considered question The access media already causing massive social changes People villages listen BBC radio watch Urdu channels which broadcast Dubai The schools remained substandard children including first young girls attending Juma slowly people becoming educated He added As ignorance disappears sardari system ICWA Letters ISSN published Institute Current World Affairs Inc exempt operating foundation incorporated New York State offices located Street NW Suite Washington D C 20016 The provided charge members ICWA avail libraries professional researchers Ph 4068Fax 0498E orgWeb Executive Director Steven Butler Bookeeper Program Assistant James Guy Publications Manager Ellen Kozak Institute Current World Affairs The Crane Rogers Foun dation The Information contained publication reprinted republished without express written consent Institute Current World Affairs
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:09:44 +0000
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