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| This week is one of the easiest weeks to organise as far as the weekly updates go.
There were three days devoted to local politics and then three days spent in another
anthropologist's field site. I began the week in a village in northern Attock District. The MPA from tehsil Fateh Jang (Major Tahir Saddiq whom I have mentioned in several reports) is a rising star in provincial and District politics and so was invited to a neighbouring tehsil to be introduced to the 'notables'. Since the Maliks that I work with are strong supporters of this MPA they were also invited. Since they know I am a sucker for long boring political meetings they invited me along as well. It turned out to be neither long nor boring. It was in fact quite interesting both for the speeches and for the general presentation. In some respects it resembled the k'huli kacherri held in Bhalot at the end of January and in other respects it was a little like a marriage ceremony-- presenting the 'bridgegroom' (Major Tahir Saddiq) to the 'bride's' family (the 'notables' of Hazro). Major Tahir Saddiq was given a bridegroom's money adornment (these are common for Pakistani grooms-- an elaborate necklace made up of 5 or 10 rupee notes). There were very loud explosions of some sort of firework at keypoints during the ceremony (again a similarity with weddings-- though weddings are usually just guns fired in the air). Like the k'huli kacherri the keynote address was a fiery speech listing the problems of the people of the area. The rest of the speeches were more subdued and much reference was made to the common faith of all people present (when Major Tahir Saddiq said this he looked down at me and I am almost sure I saw a small smile as he said, 'We are all Muslims here'). Afterwards we had a generaous high tea with chicken and cakes and other sweets. One of my friends had told me he intended to conduct some business while there but it turned out the person he needed to speak to was inundated with other business so my friend was forced to simply socialize. The following day I went with some Maliks to the District Council headquarters in Attock. It was very similar to the tehsil headquarters only magnified. There was the same group of men socializing and conducting business in the courtyards and periodically they would go into the offices to get something formal taken care of. One of the zamindars who came with us to Attock had no formal business to take care of so I mistakenly assumed he was just along for the ride. Once we were there I noticed however that he had his own business to attend to in the waiting room of the MPA (who was in the DC HQ offices for one day). Because the MPA was present on that day many more people than usual turned up. This was for two reasons: 1. to see the MPA, 2. to take advantage of the fact that there was a high likelihood that a large number of zamindar families would be represented. I saw several men set up their own little 'courts' in the waiting room and outside in the grass taking care of business. I don't really know what to compare this to but it in the apparent chaos there is definitely an order to all of this activity. The Tuesday following my day at the District Council I put on my best shalwar kameez to go to Islamabad and meet the Secretary of the Water and Power Development Authourity (WAPDA), Mr. Ghor Ayub Khan. This appointment was made over a month ago. One of the zamindars from near Haripur is an old friend and supporter of Mr. Ghor Ayub Khan and so is able to get in to see him when he has a problem. This zamindar, being a friend of a relative of the zamindars in Bhalot, extended the invitation to three other zamindars-- one of whom extended the invitation to me. This was one of the rare occasions when my zamindar friends were not only on time for a meeting but arrived early enough to have a quick tea before the meeting. Unfortunately Mr. Ghor Ayub Khan had been called away for an emergency meeting witht the Prime Minister so I didn't get to meet him. The zamindars met with his personal assistant and got to express their grievances. The friend of the WAPDA secretary invited me to his village on in April when Mr. Ghor Ayub Khan will be there as chief guest for a bullock race. I have been told to bring along my good friends so I have extended this invitation to four or five others. Something I am slowly getting used to is that my friends here seem to think that anything worth doing is worth doing in a group. The rest of the week I went south to Chakwal district. This is still part of the rain fed or barani area of northern Punjab so it is very relevant to my general understanding of the region. This village has some differences. There are no large landowners and there is a notable absence of men between the ages of 25-50. The plot sizes of individual families are really too small for the young men to stay in the village and live off agricultural work so out-migration for wage labour is the norm. Men do not abandon the village however-- they leave their wives and children in the village. There is not as much wealth in the village and consequently the kind of strict purdah that exists among Bhaloti zamindars is impractical in this village. Women are just as modest as in Bhalot but they must go outside of their homes to take care of daily chores. Thanks to the introcution of the anthropologist that brought me to this village I was able to speak to a few women about their lives. The conversations were mostly brief but it gave me a little more insight in to the roles that women assume within village conflicts. I was given permission to use the name of the village in publication and will do so eventually but for the time being I am being prudent. When the anthropologist that invited me to the village has had the time to publish on the village then I will feel more free to use the name. For now it must remain the mystery village of Chakwal. |
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