Sindh: An ordered state of disorder
This picture was photographed somewhere in 2011-12 It shows the womenfolk of a Lund tribesman carrying firearms while working on a farm in Kaneju, a small hamlet in taluka Daharki of district Ghotki in rural Sindh, Pakistan.
The fathers, husbands and sons of these womenfolk in the picture are either languishing in jail or have fled their homes fearing reprisal due to an ongoing bloody feud with Shar tribesmen that has so far claimed 32 lives on both sides in five-years. Acknowledging the depravity that exists in rural Sindh the photographer revealed to me that, “over a petty sum of Rs500 a bloody feud between a Shar and a Lund tribesman has claimed nearly 32 lives and injuries to many more.
The womenfolk in the picture are all farm hands belonging to the Lund tribe, and left with no choice they are forced to bear arms to resist being abducted by their rivals while working on their farms and to defend their lives and modesty. Majority of the womenfolk in rural Sindh besides raising a family are also breadwinners - working as farm hands under the hot sun that causes sunburn, dehydration, sunstroke and death in temperatures that easily rise above 45 degrees centigrade.
A few fortunate women who do embroidery or pattern work from their homes to make ends meet are spared the sweltering heat. While the men not keen on subsistence farming, having no other skills, trade or education spend idle days, sipping tea and playing board games in the surrounding bazaar’s, neglecting their children and womenfolk.
While Ghotki is home to the Bhutto, Mehar, Pir Bharchundi, Pitaffi, Dehar, Shar, Leghari and Lund tribes, yet no concerted effort was seen to be undertaken to end this bloody feud. In rural Sindh all feuds are decided by tribal chiefs and the verdict in most cases is based on the monetary greed, sexual lust or pure mischief of the tribal chief guaranteeing a settlement between feuding tribes. In this particular case the feuding Lund and Shar tribesmen have neither any money nor womenfolk to offer in marriage as settlement and are left to fight among themselves. The only possession the Lund womenfolk owned; a single goat or cow head or a small patch of farmland was sold to buy the guns they now carry - to fight for their survival.
In rural Sindh a feud among tribesmen is a boon for the tribal chief. Akin to the dog and bear blood-sport in which both animals savagely fight for their very survival when pitted against each other by the mischief of man. Eventually the animals bleed to death or are put-down by their owners, while the punters rake in profits.
As for the police they themselves despite their daily humiliation, have a dog-and-master relationship with the feudal lords and therefore are insensitive to the misery and depravity in rural Sindh.
This is because the Sindhi ruling elite have seized and consolidated all political power into their hands through their cronies and touts, who are lavished top ministerial slots, high bureaucratic office and lucrative judicial and police postings for the sole purpose of keeping the rural Sindhi population in perpetual bondage and serfdom.
While the overall socio-economic indicators in rural Sindh are grave this ordered state of disorder is not without remedy. The problems facing rural Sindh are a mere charade – created by the ruling Sindhi elite to enslave the population of rural Sindhi and further their rule.
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