Shift in priorities: Thar’s minorities snub mainstream parties, vote for their own

The days of buying votes with one meal are over, results show


Hafeez Tunio November 26, 2015
PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: In the Nangarparkar area of Tharparkar, the cost of a vote was traditionally a meal and a pick-and-drop service to the polling station. This time, however, it was different.

The people thwarted all superficial efforts to woo them. Instead, they walked miles barefoot, to vote for their representatives, who had challenged the candidates of the mainstream political parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Champion of minorities' rights

Veerji Kolhi was one such independent candidate who won the union council chairmanship. Three other candidates, nominated by him, won the general councilors and district council members' seats.

Veerji, who spent several years as bonded labourer in the private jail of a landlord, has now emerged as an elected leader of the area.

"During the 1988 drought, we migrated to the barrage area near Jhudo town in Mirpurkhas district but unfortunately a landlord of the area put us in his private jail and forced my entire family to work in his field," he told The Express Tribune. "After four years of struggle by human rights organisations, we were finally released.  I was just 10 years old at the time but it proved to be the turning point in my life," he added.

After their release, Veerji continued his education and graduated with an LLB, before going on to study for a Master’s degree. He became a vocal member of several civil and human rights organisations, advocating for the rights of minorities. He shot to fame in the aftermath of the Kastori Kolhi rape case — when a 14-year-old girl belonging to the scheduled caste was raped by influential persons of the area. Veerji fought her case from the village to the Supreme Court and ultimately, the accused were arrested.

Struggle of a lifetime

Veerji's struggle for the rights of the scheduled caste has been well-documented. He has not only been conferred various awards but has traveled to many countries, representing the minority communities. He is part of the International Visitor Leading Programme (IVLP) Alumni, a professional exchange programme funded by the United States.

According to Veerji, he was approached by several mainstream political parties ahead of the elections. He chose, however, to contest independently, under the aegis of the 'Parkar Sujaag Ittehad'.  "Around 80 per cent of the population of our union council is constituted by members of the Kolhi community," he said. "Instead of pursuing the political parties, we, the Hindus and Muslims, joined hands against them," he added.

Mini-revolution

And yet, Veerji's is not an isolated case. There are total of 64 union councils, a municipal committee and six town committees in Tharparkar district. Elections on six UCs and one municipal committee, Mithi, were postponed. According to the election commission's records, a total of 1,050 candidates contested the polls for the 432 seats in union councils, town committees and the district council. "At least half of these contestants were members of the minority communities, according to the unofficial results, over 150 have won the polls in their respective constituencies," Tharparkar's district returning officer (DRO) Khuda Dino Shoro told The Express Tribune.

Among these is Mircho Menghwar, who defeated the PPP's Muhammad Khan, an influential landlord of Diplo taluka. Another such case is that of Aachar Menghwar, a scheduled caste Hindu of Umerkot district who is a cobbler. He has defeated a PTI candidate, Raees Abdul Sattar Khoso, a local landlord.

Some of these candidates will now join mainstream parties to form the government in the district so that they can avail the development funds for their respective constituencies. But in the end, what matters is the shift in the voting pattern and the relative awareness of the voters with regards to the importance of their vote.

PPP candidate Karni Singh Sodha, son of Rana Hameer Sigh also won the district council election from Nangarparkar. Karni, who has done LLB from Szabist, is also a strong candidate for the district council chairperson of Tharparkar district.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2015.

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