Paper short abstract:

Dalit assertion, infrastructural interventions, religious minorities, borderlands

Paper long abstract:

While considerable amount of research has occurred in India on the causes and effects of what is called the Dalit resurgence, almost nothing has been written on Pakistan. Gazdar (2007) has argued that this silencing of caste is born out of "embarrassment" within the Pakistani elites of the continuity of "traditional" social forms in the face of modernist aspirations of the Islamist and cosmopolitan types respectively. My field area is the district of Tharparkar, a region with a Hindu majority, where over 200 kilometres of roads are being constructed to facilitate access to a coalfield being developed to provide power to an electricity starved country. Tharparkar is changing, and one of the surprising outcomes of these infrastructural interventions is the growth of an assertive Dalit movement, the Dalit Sujhag Tehrik (DST). The changes are allowing for the formation of a new class of economically independent Dalits, largely employed by non-governmental organizations, thereby ending the dependence on Muslim landlords. The DST functions within an increasingly narrow space provided by the Pakistani state by framing their struggle as against upper caste Hindus, arguing the Dalits are natural allies of Pakistan. On the other hand, the DST has attempted to stop some of the more abusive and exploitative practices by the landed classes against Dalits, such as the widespread use of beggar or forced labour. I will argue despite the restrictions and difficulties, the DST is attempting to change the discourse and provide self-esteem to one of the most marginalized community in Pakistan.