Power and money: In a murder case, rape, clay and sweet water all play a part

A man of many enemies, Veerji Kohli is on the run after being named in an FIR.

HYDERABAD:

As a Hindu on the lowest rung of his own society, Veerji Kohli is no stranger to living in the margins. But such is the power of modern-day liberalism that a scheduled caste Hindu such as himself could disentangle himself from the straightjacket of tradition and religion and work for human rights. In his case, it was the emancipation of bonded labourers or modern-day slaves with the Islamabad-based non-profit, Mehergarh.

But make no mistake, there are people who will not let you forget your place in society. And as a human rights activist working against powerful tribal chiefs, you tend to make not a few enemies along the way.

But perhaps things have gone too far. Veerji Kohli has been forced to go into hiding because of a murder charge — even though he has an alibi that he was in Hyderabad at the time of the killing.

Veerji's case is complicated by several factors: old enmities, business interests and political influence.

The murder case

The murder FIR was filed in Mithi against Veerji and 13 other men from his tribe, the Kohlis.

It dates to May 20 when 50-year old Saleh Shoro succumbed to his injuries after a pitched battle between the Kohlis and Shoros. They were fighting over a cow farm in Baandhi village, Nagarparkar, a sub-district of Mithi tehsil in Tharparkar. The Kohlis maintain that there is no such farm in their village.

The case was registered by Nagarparkar SHO Photo Khan Rahimon. "The Shoros nominated 14 persons of the Kohli tribe in the FIR registered under Section 302 (for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code," he said, adding that the Kohlis filed their own FIR, on charges of assault and theft against 10 Shoro men in the same incident. The SHO said that five Kohlis have been arrested but no one from the Shoro tribe has been held.

Rape

The merits of the case aside - some history muddies the waters. Veerji made a veritable enemy when he became instrumental in having SHO Rahimon and four other policemen suspended in a rape case last year. The 17-year-old K. Kohli, who was raped, is the daughter of one of the men SHO Rahimon just arrested in the cow farm case. The alleged rapists - Ramzan Khoso and others - were charged with the crime as a result of Veerji Kohli's campaign to get her justice. For now though, the men are out on bail.

Since that case, Veerji has been a thorn in the side of the influential people of the area. To complicate matters, he finds himself in the middle of a running fight for natural resources.

Clay

The Kohlis have about 60 villages in Nagarparkar some of which are rich in clay mines. Veerji says he has become unpopular because he has been fighting for the rights of the villagers to the riches of their lands. "The government is leasing out the clay mines to influential people," he told The Express Tribune over the telephone. "On different occasions, they had me kidnapped, assaulted and even my car was fired at."

He says they just want to "clip my wings". "Their interests range from the suppression of minority communities to the excavation of clay and control over the freshwater wells," he argues. "I raise voice against their tyranny and organise people to defend themselves from exploitation."

Much may be at stake. According to estimates, Nagarparkar has up to 4 million tons of clay deposits. A clay factory owner said that they collect up to 15 tons of the mineral a day from their mine alone. "Our monthly sale ranges between 100 and 150 tons at the price of Rs6,000 per ton," said Nadeem Beg, the owner of a medium-sized clay factory. He says there are 10 other clay factories in Nagarparkar. The business is thus worth at least Rs0.6 million a month.

But the problem is that Veerji is riling up the locals. Beg explains that the mines have to give some share from their earnings to the locals, which they do by mostly employing them for the digging work. "Otherwise, they will not allow you to carry out your work," he explains.

Sweet water

Veerji has also made a nuisance of himself by getting in the middle of Tharparkar's bitterest contention: access to water.

A local journalist told The Express Tribune that villages inhabited by the Kohlis have for centuries had sweet water sources. "[This allows them to] cultivate wheat, onion, peppers and other crops all through the year," he explains. If Veerji is planting himself on the Kohli side to fight for their right to their own water, he is again making enemies.

One of the Shoros, who filed the case against the 14 Kohlis, unwittingly supports this theory. "We control two sweet water wells in Baandhi village - inhabited mostly by the Kohlis - because water in our village is salty," says Luqman Shoro, who is the cousin of Qadir Baksh Shoro who lodged the FIR. Even though the Shoros belong to Bhansar village they need to go to Baandhi village to fetch water. This has been an ongoing cause for friction. In the meantime, Veerji is on the run from the law of the land.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2011.