The London School of Economics and Political Science Politics, Patronage, and Debt Bondage in the Pakistani Punjab Nicolas E. Martin A thesis submitted to the Department of Social Anthropology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, August 2009. 1 UMI Number: U615296 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615296 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. ABSTRACT This thesis examines landlord politics in the rural Pakistani Punjab and contributes to the literature on the state and criminalised politics in South Asia as well as to broader debates on factionalism and violence, class formation, proletarianization and bonded labour. The thesis also examines whether, and in what sense, Muslim saints play a role in legitimising and consolidating a highly personalised and hierarchical political order. The principal aim of the thesis is to document, and to account for, the entrenchment of violent factional politics in the Punjabi countryside and to consider how this may have forestalled the emergence of horizontal, class-based, political assertiveness. Members of the landed elite still wield considerable power over much of the rural population through tenancy relations, patronage and coercion. This enables them to obtain votes during elections and to command corvee labour, as well as to enforce debt-bondage. The thesis illustrates how this remains true despite the growing, although partial, proletarianization of former tenants and of members of menial and artisan occupational groups. One implication of this situation is that in addition to members of marginal landless groups voting for landlords during elections they also frequently fight on their behalf rather than against them. Competition for political office remains largely restricted to the landed elite and resembles a zero-sum game where winners appropriate the spoils of power for themselves and, to varying degrees, for their clients. The fact that winners take all, combined with the widespread availability of Kalashnikovs and other weapons, means that political competition is intense and involves high levels of violence. The thesis analyses how the regional political coalitions of landlord politicians are often structured on the basis of pragmatism, kinship, feuds and local rivalries, rather than on that of ideological commitment to political parties. 4 Table of Contents Glossary of Terms.................................................................................................9 Chapter One: Introduction.................................................................................. 14 Contrasts Between the Indian and Pakistani Experiences............................... 17 Context and Background .................................................................................21 Upward Mobility and the Changing Balance of Power...............................28 Social Setting................................................................................................33 The Village...................................................................................................38 Fieldwork ......................................................................................................52 Overview of Chapters......................................................................................60 Chapter Two: The Politics of Power and Enmity..............................................66 Overview ................................................................... 66 Parochial Politics and Military Rule................................................................ 68 The Chowdris...................................................................................................85 The Gondal Politicians of Bek Sagrana ........................................................... 93 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 112 Chapter Three: Factionalism and Kinship........................................................ 117 Factional Leadership in Bek Sagrana............................................................ 121 The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend........................................................ 136 Conclusions.................................................................................................... 146 Chapter Four: Patronage and Coercion............................................................ 152 Bonded Labour and Worker Assertiveness ................................................... 154 Landlords and servants: Economic and political power in Bek Sagrana 159 Wage Labour and Patronage .......................................................................... 166 Child Servants and Patronage ........................................................................ 173 Debt and Bondage .......................................................................................... 181 _ Other Cases .................................................................................................... 188 Weapons of the Weak.................................................................................... 190 Conclusions.................................................................................................... 191 Chapter Five: Elections and Devolution.......................................................... 194 Devolution ..................................................................................................... 196 Devolution in Bek Sagrana ............................................................................207 The August 2005 Union Council Elections ...................................................211 Nomination....................................................................................................212 Campaigning..................................................................................................219 Rigging...........................................................................................................224 Polling Day....................................................................................................229 Conclusions....................................................................................................234 Chapter Six:.......................................................................................................239 The Islam of Power and the Islam of Powerlessness........................................239 Pirs in the Punjab: A Historical Overview .....................................................241 Pir Ahmed Abbas Gondal and his Descendants ............................................246 Kammis and Spiritual Mediation...................................................................262 Conclusions....................................................................................................272 Conclusion........................................................................................................277 Deliverance or Danger: Militant Islam and the Rural Poor ...........................277 Contributions of this Study and Areas for Further Research.........................287 Appendix One: Land Distribution and Occupation by Biraderi......................296 Table One: Land distribution and occupation by Biraderi in Bek Sagrana...296 Table Two: Land distribution and occupation by Biraderi at Astana-e Alam ................................................................................................................................. 296 Bibliography ....... 297 Figure 1: Map of Pakistan................................................................................. 23 Figure 2: View of Bek Sagrana with low lying mud houses in the foreground and towering Ranjha houses in the background..................................................47 Figure 3: Abandoned Gondal house in the centre of Bek Sagrana ............... 47 Figure 4: Bek Sagrana, Gondal kinship and factions........................................124 Figure 5: Labourers harvesting tangerines .......................................................171 8 Glossary of Terms abadkar: Migrant settlers. ashrafi: People of noble descent, a category of higher caste. astana: Lodge, abode, threshold. Barelvi: Name of the religious movement