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.

《信德省南部瑙恩敦巴洛（Naon Dumbālo）的科尔希农民行动主义：通过多元渠道为边缘群体开辟空间》
本论文提交至真纳大学（Quaid-i-Azam University）人类学系，以满足人类学哲学硕士（Master of Philosophy in Anthropology, M.Phil-Anthropology）学位的部分毕业要求。

摘要
本研究基于对拉尔（Lār，即信德省南部）科尔希农民社群的民族志（ethnography）调研，并辅以对科尔希-达利特（Kolhi-Dalit）社群的历史、起源与身份重构实践的全面民族学梳理。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）、左翼与马克思主义行动主义者、民间社会行动主义者等社会力量，以及大众媒体与社交媒体网络的影响下，科尔希-达利特农民身份正经历怎样的转型？

本研究的核心聚焦于识别科尔希-达利特族群农民身份转型所涉及的社会政治变迁进程。

本研究的主要发现为：在信德省东南部拦河坝灌区，几乎所有科尔希无地农民均以分成佃农的身份依附于地主的债务奴役体系，其依附程度之深，以至于若脱离农民相关议题，便难以理解其族群边缘性的成因。2006年以来，信德省南部拦河坝灌区的农民群体表现出极强的行动力，其中尤以敦巴洛地区的科尔希社群分成佃农与农民行动主义者为甚。

科尔希农民行动主义不仅旨在推动土地改革、反对债务奴役，同时也是为信德省南部边缘化的达利特社群争取族群与社群权利、平等社会地位的斗争。科尔希族群在维权行动中展现出的显著策略灵活性，可从其参与针对族群与农民权利的政治抗议与集会中得到印证。

科尔希社群已意识到族群歧视、无地状态、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恩敦巴洛地区兴起的社群自主筹资建立科尔希定居点的趋势中得到佐证。科尔希农民行动主义为我们提供了独特的研究视角，得以从低种姓、受族群歧视且处于边缘地位的少数群体分成佃农的维度理解农民行动主义。

本研究系统性地梳理了科尔希-达利特农民村落社群，如何在地方、省、国家乃至国际层面寻求意识形态与政治空间，以与其他族群身份和平共存的实践。本研究对两项内容进行了关联性评估：一是受族群动机驱动的农民对国家层面主流话语的接纳或排斥意愿，二是非政府组织（Civil Society Organizations, CSO）改造族群-农民身份的能力。