AKBAR 1

“SOCIO-ECONOMIC DYNAMICS AND SMUGGLING IN THARPARKAR, SINDH”

WAQAR AKBAR

24090073

LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

DR ILYAS AHMED CHATTHA

HIST 2324

SECTION 1

May 8, 2021
 AKBAR 2

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to analyze the dynamics and socio-economic and topographical

factors of the Tharparkar borderland region that provides a fertile ground to carry cross-border

illicit economic activities. The paper will precisely focus on different types of cross-border and

intra-provincial smuggling happening inside this unique borderland region of Pakistan. It is

believed that the popular site of the Rann of Kutch witnesses most of the drug smuggling

happening between India and Pakistan. Like other borderland regions involved in smuggling,

Tharparkar too harbors influential drug lords having contacts with the local politicians that afford

them a shield against any legal proceedings. Apart from the drug smuggling, Tharparkar also

witnesses the smuggling of its precious species of peacocks and deer. The paper also includes

analysis on a very special type of tree gum smuggling which has a very high demand in India due

to the substance’s wide usage in Hindu temples. Lastly, the paper will also shed some necessary

light on the link between the politicians disregard of the borderland regions and the plight of its

women population who continue to be the subject to discrimination, torture and bonded labor.

Key words: Smuggling; Drug lords; Borderland; India; Tharparkar; Peacock; Deer; Tree

Gum; Hindu temples

Introduction

Tharparkar is that region of Pakistan which, despite of getting minimal limelight and

traction in the media, is very critical for the economy and the image of Pakistan. Its barren land

and dry bushes might convey a message of a lower face-value but, in reality, the dynamics and

activities taking place inside this region must be a critical cause of concern for the authorities.
 AKBAR 3

This essay aims to track the activities and affairs this barren deserted land has to offer to its own

native population. The remoteness and peripheral position of this region affords and allows the

natives to carry out many illicit economic activities which in common legal parlance is known as

smuggling.

DRUG SMUGGLING IN THARPARKAR

Drug smuggling is the most common smuggling found in this region by which drugs like

heroin and cocaine are smuggled in to the adjoining nation India by passing through a popular

site known as Rann of Kutch. The marshy and treacherous land of Rann of Kutch makes it very

easy to carry out such illicit activities quite effectively. Although Pakistan is trying very hard to

erect a hard wired fence on the site, but the terrain and natural habitat makes it highly arduous

and difficult to carry out this project seamlessly. The treacherous and deceptive character to the

Rann of Kutch is further conferred upon by the successive streams of flood in the summer season

following which some wet patches get scattered like a blanket forming a thick slush of mud

underneath the ground. Such type of topography gives a hard challenge to the state to construct a

barbed fence covering the whole border with India and conversely allows smugglers to leverage

the practice of using camels and bulls to carry out such activities.

In a conversation with a Thari local working in a bread factory in taluka Mithi of district

Tharparkar, I came to know about a more geographically specific marshy area near Rann of

Kutch through which these activities take place. He revealed that ‘Harami Nallah’ located

alongside the border with India is the most common route through which these activities take

place. According to his oral testimony, “Harami Nallah is the area through which goods go to

Gujarat region of India”. He further revealed that, “this is the most famous site and almost every
 AKBAR 4

Thari local can tell you about this; however it is not quite easy to reach the site as it can take

several hours and might even eat away half of someone’s day while reaching the place” (Ayaz,

personal communication, April 27, 2021). Furthermore, just like in other borderland regions

around the world, Tharparkar too is dwelled by a cohort of interconnected drug lords working

closely on the successful operation of these illicit activities. The same Thari local also revealed

the name of a most influential and powerful drug lord of Tharparkar: “Ram Kumar Maheshwari

is the most famous man considered to be in contact with people on other side of the border”

(Ayaz, personal communication, April 27, 2021). It is said that Ram Lal Maheshwari receives

the consignments from Karachi and delivers it to the other side of the border and vice versa. He

acts as a middle man between rich and influential businessmen of Karachi and Gujrat. By

smuggling huge consignments of goods and drugs, he has accrued a great amount of wealth. He

is also said to possess a 2 hectares farm house in Taluka Nagarparkar of Tharparkar region which

is the hallmark of his success as an influential drug lord of the region. An interview with a police

constable of Taluka Mithi who claims to be the resident of rural areas of ‘Achro’ region of

Tharparkar revealed: “Despite of the knowledge about drug lords, the police and state

institutions have failed miserably in arresting him; this is because he has quite a few strong and

powerful political contacts that act as a potent shield for him against any such police

operations” (Jawad, personal communication, April 28, 2021). He also revealed that a myriad

number of Tharparkar men work for him and assume different jobs and roles in this business.

According to my interviewee, people from the Achro Thar are given preference in these types of

jobs as they know alternative routes, detours and secret paths towards the border. They also

know the topography of the Tharparkar district better which consequently makes them more

suitable and apt for this job. This shows that the border of Tharparkar with India is not
 AKBAR 5

considered to be a danger zone for the local borderland population due to the economic benefits

this border entails for them.

The First Information Reports I amassed (attached in the email) from the Nagarparkar

police station of Tharparkar corroborates the credibility of this contention that borderland natives

have been rigorously involved in these cross-border economic practices throughout history. The

FIR number 40 attached below was registered in 1986 under section 156A of criminal procedure

code in police station of Nagarparkar, Sindh. The FIR reveals that someone was arrested for

crossing the border with a packet of drugs. The existence of these cross-country smuggling of

drugs show that drugs were and still are in high demand on other side of the border which makes

this activity a very profitable for the borderland population of the Tharparkar.
 AKBAR 6

These First Information Reports and the interviews conducted with the locals of Tharparkar

reveal how the local borderland population is aware of any cross-border economic contacts and

despite of the knowledge about the existence of an international border, they continue to engage

in cross-border economic activities for their own day-to-day survival.

This apathy and lack of concern for the international border and the dangers associated

with maintaining cross-border contact display the process through which borderland regions of

Tharparkar act as ‘spaces of refusal’. The reason why the borderland communities like

Tharparkar have repudiated to acknowledge laws and norms of the state is rooted in the

explanation put forward by Oscar Martinez in ‘Global boundaries’ edited by Clive H. Schofield.

Martinez writes that cross-border ties, otherness, separateness, and discontent with politicians are

some of the factors that develop a sense of otherness in the borderland population (Schofield,

1994) and make these borderlands the ‘spaces of refusal. According to him, the borderland

population refuses to obey the laws and customs of the state because they think they are made by

the inward-looking politicians who are mostly elected from central regions of the country.

Moreover, due to lack of development projects, infrastructure and better healthcare facilities, the

borderland population thinks that nobody in the power corridors of the state thinks about

interests and desires of the borderland population which is why they engage in this practice to

fend for themselves and their families. Putting these arguments contended by Schofield in the

context of Tharparkar region, they would surely prove to be authentic and credible. Tharparkar

region of Pakistan has long been ignored by the politicians and state institutions of Pakistan. It

has been thrown into an uncharted territory defined by poverty, hunger, malnutrition and

malaise. They therefore attempt to defy the policies and legislations that try to intervene and

disrupt the social realities of borderlands (Schofield, 1994). After all of that apathy and
 AKBAR 7

insouciance the state officials and politicians have for Tharparkar, it should not come as a

surprise to anyone to know that the Thari population is involved in such cross-border illicit

economic practices and activities.

WILDLIFE SMUGGLING

Apart from this smuggling of drugs across the border into India, Tharparkar is also

famous for the excessive and unceasing smuggling of its precious species of peacocks and deer.

Tharparkar region is home to some of the most beautiful species of Peacock and Deer found in

Pakistan. This special gift of nature and high demand for such animals and birds locally and

internationally has spurred the smugglers to extend their illicit business to these poor animals and

birds as well. According to the newspaper The News, “During last five years, Sindh Wildlife

Department lodged 66 FORs (first offence report) in Tharparkar district alone. Similarly, there

were fines of around Rs800000 in different cases during the same period. These cases were of

various types including trapping, poaching and smuggling of deer and peacocks” (Kunbhar,

2017). Mostly, the Peacocks and deer are smuggled from Tharparkar to other local districts of

Sindh where feudal lords and their massive farm houses wait to decorate and adorn their places

with these beautiful birds. According to Sindh wildlife protection act of 1972, it is illegal for

anyone to hunt down a peacock in Tharparkar or to smuggle it to any other region of Pakistan.

However, as mentioned earlier, the disdain and contempt by the local population for any such

law hammered out by the government propel the local population to hunt down these animals

and smuggle it for their personal economic benefits. On a telephonic interview with Zayad

Almani, a government official for preservation and protection of wildlife in Tharparkar, “the

number of blue peacocks found only in Thar is declining each day due to illegal sale of their
 AKBAR 8

eggs, their smuggling and the odious practice of keeping them in farm houses by divesting them

of their natural habitat” (Zayad, personal communication, April 30, 2021)

During my primary research, I also interviewed a forest officer of government of Sindh

forest department in Hyderabad who provided some additional information regarding the

smuggling of Peacocks taking place inside Tharparkar region. He revealed that “the forest

department of Sindh has shown no intent in preserving the peacock species found in Tharparkar.

Everyone in the department is aware of the long network of peacock smuggling happening inside

the Tharparkar region but no one has put in any effort to curb this practice of animal smuggling

that is destroying their habitat” (Hamza, personal communication, April 27, 2021). Moreover,

Zayad Almani, a Tharparkar officer in preservation of wildlife, also revealed that “every check

post is high in security to discourage smuggling, but culprits somehow manage to evade the

catch of the law and the system due to some loopholes in the mechanism” (Zayad, personal

communication, April 30, 2021).

The interview I conducted with the Thari local in Mithi bread factory himself confessed

to be involved in this peacock smuggling as well. According to him, “the peacock smuggling is

the easiest way to earn a good amount of money in Tharparkar region, but entails risks as well. I

once sold a pair of peacocks for around 22 thousand rupees in 2016 her in Mithi” (Ayaz,

personal communication, April 27, 2021). Consequently, this Blue specie of Tharparkar

peacocks is famous all around Sindh for its beauty and exquisite feathers that make this

smuggling business for local borderland natives a highly lucrative one.

THE TREE GUM SMUGGLING

 AKBAR 9

In addition to the drug smuggling and the wildlife smuggling, the Nagarparkar district

ofTharparkar is also famous and widely known in Sindh for its illegal smuggling of gum

extracted from Camphora Mukal and Gugral trees found mostly in Nagarparkar. This tree gum is

loaded into animal carts and is sent across the border in Gujrat region of India. During my

primary research for this essay, the Thari local working in taluka Moro of district Naushahro

Feroze also provided me with some grass root realities of this Tree gum smuggling. According to

him, district “Nagarparkar once abounded with the number and density of Gurgal Trees but due

to the endless smuggling and trade of this substance, most of them have dried”. On the method

and process of extracting the substance, he revealed that, “the gum is extracted by hitting the

trees continuously with axes” (Ashok, personal communication, April 27, 2021). The taluka

Nagarparkar administration has banned and made the chopping and extracting of the gum illegal.

However, despite of the presence of such bans, the implementation and action remains very low

due to weak control of state in such borderland regions. The demand for this gum is very high in

the Indian states due to India’s large number of Hindu population. Another Hindu Thari local

working as a chef at my friend’s house in Hyderabad revealed the reason why there is such a

high demand for this product in India. According to the Thari chef, “The gum is excessively used

in Hindu temples because of its captivating fragrance and aromatic novelty” (Jaish, personal

communication, April 27, 2021). Apart from this, the gum is also used in the manufacturing of

medicines and drugs as well which make it a very lucrative business for the local borderland

population of the Tharparkar region of Pakistan.

THE PLIGHT OF THE WOMEN OF THARPARKAR

 AKBAR 10

Another grim feature regarding the dynamics and economic activities of this unique

borderland region of Pakistan relates to the vulnerability of its women and children population. It

is a widely known fact that Tharparkar is the poorest region of the Sindh province and if

combined with the patriarchal and conservative structures of the Pakistani rural societies, the

region becomes a source of infliction for the poor hapless women and children. Some deplorable

activities regarding women slavery and child labor and bondage are also known to be taking

place in the Tharparkar region of the Sindh. Due to seasonal droughts and lack of job facilities,

women and children mostly travel and migrate to places nearby where they end up working for

the influential political and feudal lords of the region. According to an interview conducted by

OXFAM international on their research on ‘Consolidated gender analysis for the disaster

response in Pakistan’, a woman revealed the reason for their regular and hastened migration from

one place to another. She declared that, as a “result of the drought we have to migrate in order to

survive, and whatever little education our children have is discontinued until we move back to

our homes.’ However, during their stay, many are trapped by throwing the chains of debt and the

women and children are then transferred to urban and more developed centers of Pakistan where

they work for rest of their lives. This is the sole reason why most children and women found

working inside the domestic houses in urban cities like Hyderabad and Karachi belong to

Tharparkar. Furthermore, their Hindu religion and Dalit caste makes these women and children

more vulnerable to these gruesome and ghastly activities. These women and children are bonded

not only within Pakistan but are also smuggled into the Gujrat region of India due to the absence

of any barbed fence or a wall with India. This contention is also supported by a research study

conducted by Aurat foundation. The research titled ‘Internal Trafficking of Women and Girls in

Pakistan’ revealed that the “human trafficking was on the rise in Pakistan through famous and
 AKBAR 11

“most frequent routes used by traffickers in Pakistan such as the Makran coast and Tharparkar”.

The plight of the women of Tharparkar evinces clearly the process of how the women of

borderland regions of Pakistan always remain vulnerable to oppression and injustice. This trend

is found common in almost every borderland region of Pakistan -- the trend of women being

subjected to suppression, brutality and coercion.

CONCLUSION

Summing up, Tharparkar region, instead of remaining in the media’s backburner since

forever, actually witnesses a great amount of international and domestic smuggling. Among the

smuggling, the drug smuggling and the smuggling of its wildlife animals have always peaked

and afforded lucrative profits to the borderland locals involved in these practices. The reason

why they continuously challenge the state narrative and act as a ‘space of refusal’ is their

discontent with the centrist politicians of the state who have always turned a blind eye to this

region and its impoverished population. It is due to the neglected and abandoned state of this

region that its massive women population continues to be the target of oppression and slavery.

After having been drained and exhausted by their futile search for any employment

opportunities, the women of Thar resort to taking jobs inside the households of influential feudal

lords where they find themselves stuck into endless cycle of debt payments. It will not be wrong

to contend that the price of the politician’s and state officials’ dereliction of duty is being paid by

the hapless women of the Tharparkar region. Surely, the governments of Pakistan and its

institutions have a major task on their hand – to incorporate the borderland regions of Pakistan

by gaining their trust and confidence.

 AKBAR 12

Works Cited

CONSOLIDATED GENDER ANALYSIS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE IN PAKISTAN. (2017).

RELIEF WEB. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/rr-consolidated-

gender-analysis-pakistan-150317.pdf

From the Newspaper. (2011, February 19). Destruction of gugral trees in Tharparkar.

DAWN.COM. https://www.dawn.com/news/607343/destruction-of-gugral-trees-in-

tharparkar

Internal Trafficking of Women and Girls in Pakistan. (2012). AURAT FOUNDATION.

http://af.org.pk/gep/images/Research%20Studies%20(Gender%20Based%20Violence)/

study%20on%20trafficking%20final.pdf

Kunbhar, Z. (2017, September 3). Blessings and bane that come with rain | Political Economy |

thenews.com.pk. The News. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/563937-blessings-

bane-come-rain

P. (2009, December 7). Rann of Kutch terrain comes in way of fast border fencing. The Hindu.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Rann-of-Kutch-terrain-comes-in-way-of-fast-

border-fencing/article16851905.ece

Schofield, C. H. (2016). Global Boundaries: World Boundaries Volume 1 (World Boundaries

Series) (1st ed.). Routledge.