Contribution short abstract:

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2022-2023, the paper focuses on two villages in the Thar Desert, in South East Pakistan, to show that how villages are demanding for yet another displacement.

Contribution long abstract:

The open pit mines of the Thar Desert, in the South east of Pakistan, cover a vast tract of land. As these mining projects are ongoing, villages and people find themselves at different stages of displacement. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2022-2023, the paper focuses on two villages to show that extraction encounters have no closure. The two villages were the first to be affected by the mining activities. After a brief moment of resistance and cooperation, disputes between the villages and the mining companies were resolved. However with time, the situation has become such that villagers are demanding to be ‘relocated’ again. The paper details the ongoing issues between the villages and the company and shows how these never extractive communities live constantly with feelings of fear, nostalgia, regret, but also with anticipation.