The Rise of Dalit Peasants: Kolhi Activism in Lower Sindh

(Original Thesis Title) Kolhi-peasant Activism in Naon Dumbālo, Lower Sindh:Creating Space for Marginalised through Multiple Channels Submitted to Quaid-i-Azam University, Department of Anthropology as partial requirment for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Anthropollgy (M.Phil-Anthropology). ABSTRACT This study is based on ethnography of Kolhi peasant community of Lār (lower Sindh) followed by extensive ethnological account of the history, origin and identity reconstruction efforts of Kolhi-Dalit community. This study is to explain, ‘how Kolhi-Dalit peasant identities are being transformed under the impact of social forces, such as Kolhi peasant activists, NGOs, leftist and Marxist activists, civil society activists, and under the influence of mass media and social media networks? The prime focus of is the identification of the ‘processes of socio-political change that are involved in the transformation of Kolhi-Dalit ethnic peasant identities. Major Findings of the research are that the dependence of almost entire Kolhi community on sharecropping as landless peasants under debt bondage of landlords in barrage-area of south-eastern lower Sindh has been so overwhelming that it is difficult to conceive of their ethnic marginality independent of peasant related issues. In recent past, since 2006, peasants in the barrage area of lower Sindh, particularly sharecroppers and peasant activists of Kolhi community of Dumbālo, have been highly dynamic. Kolhi peasant activism is not just for land reforms, or against debt bondage, it is also the struggle for ethnic and communal rights and equal social status for the marginalized Dalit communities of lower Sindh. The phenomenal multiplicity of Kolhi ethnic maneuverability can be evidenced from their participation in political protests and rallies for their ethnic and peasant rights. Kolhi community has become conscious of the relationship between ethnic discrimination, landlessness, debt bondage and economic exploitation, the evidence of which can be had from the emerging trend to establish community-initiated self-funded Kolhi colonies at Naon Dumbālo, District Badin Sindh. Kolhi peasant activism provides a unique opportunity to understand peasant activism from the perspective of the sharecroppers of lower caste, the ethnically discriminated and marginalized minority community. Systematic effort has been made to look for ideological and political space for Kolhi-Dalit peasant-village community to coexist peacefully with other ethnic identities at local, provincial, national and international levels. Ethnically motivated Peasants’ willingness or reluctance to accommodate with the dominant discourses at national level and capacity of Civil Society Organizations to transform ethnic-peasant identities has been assessed in relation to one another.(原论文标题) 《信德省瑙顿邓巴洛地区科尔希（Kolhi）农民行动主义：通过多元渠道为边缘群体开辟空间》 本论文提交至巴基斯坦真纳大学人类学系，以满足人类学哲学硕士（M.Phil-Anthropology）学位的部分要求。 摘要 本研究基于信德省拉尔（Lār）地区科尔希农民社区的民族志（ethnography）调研，并辅以科尔希-达利特（Dalit）社区的历史、起源与身份建构实践的详尽民族志记录。本研究旨在阐释：在科尔希农民行动主义者、非政府组织（Non-Governmental Organization, NGO）、左翼及马克思主义行动者、民间社会行动者的影响下，以及大众媒体（mass media）与社交媒体（social media）网络的作用下，科尔希-达利特农民身份如何发生变迁？本研究的核心聚焦在于，识别推动科尔希-达利特族裔农民身份转型的社会政治变迁进程。 研究主要结论显示：信德省东南部下游灌区的科尔希社区几乎全体作为无地佃农，深陷地主的债务奴役（debt bondage），依赖分成佃农制（sharecropping）维生，其依附程度之深，以至于脱离农民相关议题便难以理解该群体的族裔边缘处境。2006年以来，信德省下游灌区的农民——尤其是邓巴洛地区的科尔希社区佃农与农民行动主义者——表现出极强的行动力。科尔希农民行动主义并非仅围绕土地改革或反对债务奴役展开，同时也是为信德省下游地区边缘化达利特社区争取族裔与社群权利、平等社会地位的斗争。科尔希族裔策略的多元性可从其参与针对族裔与农民权利的政治抗议与集会中得到印证。科尔希社区已然意识到族裔歧视、无地处境、债务奴役与经济剥削之间的内在关联，这一点可从信德省巴丁县瑙顿邓巴洛地区兴起的社区自主筹资建立科尔希聚居区的趋势中得到佐证。 科尔希农民行动主义为我们提供了独特视角，得以从低种姓、遭受族裔歧视的边缘少数群体佃农的维度理解农民行动主义。本研究系统性地尝试为科尔希-达利特农民村落社区寻求意识形态与政治空间，使其得以在地方、省域、国家乃至国际层面与其他族裔身份和平共存。本研究还评估了两个维度的关联：一是受族裔动员的农民是否愿意接纳国家层面的主流话语，二是非政府组织转型族裔-农民身份的能力。