NAKED PUNCH RESEARCH UNIT
REPORT NUMBER: 02
DATE: 03/3/09
LOCATION: LAHORE, PAKISTAN
AUTHORS: MUZAMMIL IQBAL
TITLE: CASE-STUDY OF jhomprian [hut dwellers] at the New Ravi Pull, Lahore.
Contents
Introduction
4
1. Overview of NEW RAVI JHOMPrIAN
6
2. BAGH ALI
10
3. AKRAM ALI
12
4. PARSA
14
APPENDIX: 1. Photograhps from NEW RAVI JHOMPrI-
AN. NAKED PUNCH RESEARCH UNIT
0. INTRODUCTION
0. Introduction TO THE NAKED PUNCH RESEARCH UNIT: Sometimes we are so familiar with the people around us that this familiarity – in a rather paradoxical manner – becomes a hindrance in the way of having a true understanding of them; their pleasures and problems, their life and lot and their sense of the world. Or we think that we know them (or, deep down, we believe that there is nothing about them that qualifies as knowledge and therefore should be or could be known). Ours is an attempt to understand people beyond stereotypes and clichés, beyond this mere presumed sense of knowing them. What is the academic utility of such a project? Why should we visit these ‘not-so-important’ people? Why should we not sit on a chair with a heater on one side, covered with warm clothes, and make notes from the books piled on the table in front of us; protected against the harshness of the cold air, the pollution and dirt of the ‘outside’? Against these doubts we constantly battled and to cast the spell away we reminded ourselves that traditional academic discourse, with its hindered sights, its objectivity – which is well considered to be nothing less than a euphemism for ‘academic callousness’ – though, privileged and supported by wealth and capital has grave limitations. It does not, nay, cannot - will not - touch, feel, understand, acknowledge ‘the wretched of the earth’. We agree with Freire and think that good research, like good politics, demands that it be ‘with the people’ and not ‘above them’. Our future work will continue to work with this method. For it is the belief of the Naked Punch Research Unit that until we understand - within the possibilities of sympathetic knowledge - the lives of the ‘wretched’, we are unlikely to devise a social and political programme/movement that takes our societies towards ‘Justice, Liberty and Equality’. INTRODUCTION TO REPORT 02: I visited my case-study location, at the New Ravi Pull [New Ravi Bridge], on fifteen separate occasions. In the first few visits I carried out a general survey enquiring about the different groupings of people that inhabit the Jhomprian [huts]. In the following visits I collected data on the number of people who inhabit the area and their income sources. This was followed by a case-study of thirty four persons. Of these, I have developed three for this publication. These case studies are of Akram Ali (a beggar by profession), Bagh Ali (a beggar by profession) and Parsa (a prostitute by profession). It could be objected that I have focused on ‘sensational’ professions. Let me briefly defend myself against this charge. Firstly, when I began the survey I had little information on the professions of the inhabitants of the area. It was precisely this ignorance that led me to carry out this research. Secondly, the professions presented are, in fact, representative of the vast majority of working people from the New Ravi Pull Jhomprian. Finally, I estimate that it is, indeed, the working class that partake in these professions, and knowledge of these professions are necessary if we are to (a) formulate sound policy on education and poverty alleviation (b) dispel myths about these people and professions. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Research Unit is inspired partly by the work of Muhammad Yunus. See, M. Yunus (ed.), Jorimon and Others, (Dhaka: Garmeem Bank, 1984).
1. Overview of NEW
RAVI JHOMPrIAN
1. Overview of NEW RAVI JHOMprIAN At the time of my survey (January 2009) there were 100 huts occupied by approximately 900 people. Of these 682 were aged 11 or below. The Jhomprian population is almost equal between the genders. The huts, on average, are 12 feet by 8 feet. In these, often, more than one resides. There is no electricity or running water in any of the huts, although there are 7 taps around the Jhomprian complex. The families have no crockery, bedding, or furniture - nor a table or a chair. To sleep they have made thin mattresses from cotton and on average they have three blankets per hut. In one hut twenty people shared these implements. The least number of people in any one hut that I came across was five. Huts have an internal framework consisting of Bamboo sticks, which are covered by Polythene plastic sheets, these in turn are covered with rag clothes and one more sheet of Polythene plastic. A small mud wall is built around each hut to stop rain from coming inside the hut. I enquired with local hut makers for the pricing of the construction material. They are said to be: Polythene plastic per kg: 120 rupees. 20 bamboo sticks: 150 rupees. Cloth: Free (gathered from garbage and from begging). A hut requires 20 or so bamboo sticks and 4 kg of Polythene plastic sheet. Therefore, the material cost for one hut is 630 rupees. There are five different Bradries [we can loosely translate this as caste] in the Jhomprian complex and they tend to live next to one another. The largest and most materially deprived group by far is that of More, they occupy 70 of the 100 huts in the complex. They have migrated from Jhung, Punjab. Most females make their living by begging, while there are also a few prostitutes from this grouping. All the men work as day labours at the Sabzi Mandi [fruit and vegetable market]. Gore is the second largest grouping with 11 huts. They migrated from Shaikhupura and Faisalabad, which are both in Punjab. The males in this grouping have varied occupations. Some beg, others work at Sabzi Mandi, others play dhol [large drum instrument] around neighbourhoods, while yet others recite Naats [songs praising the prophet - PBUH] to make money. Females in this group are restricted from working - which would mean begging anyway - and work hard at house-keeping (which is work, though unfortunately unpaid). The Odd grouping migrated from Multan, Punjab, and occupy 8 huts. Relative to other hut dwellers they are well-off. They own land back in Multan which gives them some income. They come to the huts every winter to earn extra cash. The men work in the Sabzi Mandi and the women work at home. It is rumoured, though I have no concrete evidence, that they are actually robbers. Who, to escape the police, came to Lahore. The Masali group have 7 huts between them. They migrated from Pakpatan, Punjab. The males in this grouping, again, work in the Sabzi Mandi. While the females take their young children and go begging. They request old clothes from people, which they then sell on.
The Laboucher group occupy 4 huts. The males in this group make a living by begging, while the females and children stay back at the hut complex.
ii. Sources of Income From my surveys I was able to gather detailed information on income generated by various occupations. Below, I present information on the income generated by beggary and Sabzi Mandi work. My data is collected from a sample of forty female beggars and thirty five Sabzi Mandi workers. I also include my observations.
Beggary: Profession
Age
Beggary
20 - 30 30-40 40 +
Earning per day Saving at the (rupees) end of the day (rupees) 150 - 100 0 100 - 75 0 50 - 40 0
Total working hours 11 11 11
Start time and end time of work 10 am - 9 pm 10 am - 9 pm 10 am - 9 pm
Number of meals per day 2 2 1
OBSERVATIONS: I would like the reader to observe the earning for those who are aged over forty and leave them to deliberate on this. Females arise at about 8:00 am. They wash their hand and mouth and then collect food for breakfast from the local vendor. Breakfast costs around 15 rupees per head and consists of three chapattis [thin bread made from wheat flour] and a cup full of lentils. They sit together, chat, smoke and eat before departing to beg at 10 am. The younger females take babies with them and a bag change of clothing for the baby. Their regular working stops are: Yadgar Chowk, Bhatti Gate, Laxmi Chowk, Kalma Chowk, Ichra and Shah d Khoe. Children are left back at the huts and run their own lives. Some beg from passengers at the nearby road, others dive into the river to look for valuable items and so the children pass their day. At 9 pm, the mothers return. The earnings (see above) are used to buy food for the family and cigarettes for the adults. I was surprised by the number of cigarettes they consume. When I enquired about this, they said, ‘hum zehni sakun k liye istimal karty hain’ [we use it to give our mind some comfort]. After eating they sleep, waking again at 8 a.m. for another days work, and so they spent every week of every year, year after year.
SABZI MANDI (Fruit and Vegatable Market): Young children above fifteen and adult males wake up just a few minutes before work (4 am) and without taking breakfast or other preparation head to work at the Sabzi Mandi. There they work as day labourers. They are either employed as ‘hawkers’, who sell fruit and vegetable on behalf of farmers or they work to load and unload goods. Hawkers work on commission while loaders also negotiate the price for their labour with individual contractors. For unloading they work in groups and are generally paid around 150 rupees per group for unloading a small sized vehicle. However, due to oversupply of labour many of them are unable to secure work on any given day. Further, this also puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating a payment for their labour. Day labourers have nothing of their earnings left at the end of the working day. The little they earn is used for upkeep of energy levels and the tame luxury of a few cigarettes. Their evening meal is almost always paid by earnings of their partners (female).
Profession
Earning per day
Day workers at Sabzi Mandi
50 - 70 rupees
Expenses per Saving at the Total workday (rupees) end of the ing hours day 30 (break0 7 fast) 20 (cigerattes)
Start time and Number of meals per day end time of work 4 am - 11 am
2
2. BAGH ALI
2. BAGH ALI Bagh Ali, and his wife, Haleema, are by profession beggars and work together. This case-study will focus on Bagh Ali. He began begging 10 years ago in the city of Multan, from where he hails. For two years now he has been living and begging in Lahore. His hut, at the New Ravi Jhomprian, is similar to others and has only a few items: his case, one thick linen sheet on the floor and two worn out blankets, and that really is all they have - there isn’t even a glass for drinking water. Bagh Ali and Haleema wake up at 8 am. They wash hands and face, rinse their mouths, smoke two cigarettes each before leaving at 10 am for work. For two years they have worked on Ahmed Road, near the Ravi Bridge. Bagh Ali operates on one side of the road, while Haleema takes the other. In total they earn around 80 rupees per day. They work up until 9 pm at which time they go for a meal at a local hotel. Daily, without exception, they order two plates of vegetables and lentil curry and 7 chapattis. This costs 60 rupees. After the meal they head home and are in bed by 10 pm. Bagh Ali estimates that he is around 56 years old. His life began in the city of Multan. His father had a small business, making wooden baskets. From these he made around 100 rupees a day. Bagh remembers these times fondly, he told me, ‘us waqt hum log boht khuch zindage guzar rahe the’ [at that time we lived a good life] and when he reached the age of 12 he joined his father’s business. Bagh married when he was twenty two. His first wife, Jatti, left him 12 years later. It was a love marriage but, ‘halat mare hon di waja to meri bivi menu chud k chali gae’ [when times got hard my wife left me]. Things worsened when he got an illness and could no longer work. His wife left him for a new lover. Left alone, sick, with eight young children, no savings, and thus no money, he sent his children out to beg. The usual effects of poverty took their tool. Five of his children died before they reached the age of ten. As mysteriously as his disease had begun it left him. At the age of forty he recovered his physical powers. However, the basket making business was no longer profitable and he turned to the only other available occupation, begging. He and his three children operated around Multan City. Their collective earnings stood at around 110 rupees per day. It was at this time that he married Haleema. They have no children. Two years ago, he left his children from his first wife, Jatti, with an uncle and came to Lahore hoping to make more money than he had in Multan. In his 56 years, Bagh Ali has never received assistance from the government in health, education or welfare, nor have his children or his wife. Fatalism is a ready and blameless companion of misery - he said, ‘Allah hi hai jo sadi madad kary’ [only God can help us].
3. AKRAM ALI
3. AKRAM ALI Akram Ali migrated from Faisalabad to Lahore in 2007 along with his father, mother and five siblings. He is a professional beggar and has been so for seven years. He began his career in Faisalabad but his father moved the family to Lahore as he believed that Akram would earn more from begging in Lahore. His father does not work, nor does anyone else in the household. Akram is the only earner in the family and is rather resentful about this, in particular about his father’s lack of activity, he told me, ‘abba mera kuj nae krda, isliye mujy itni chotti umer se kam kurna par rha hy’ [my father doesn’t do anything, I have had to work from a young age]. He went on to explain the effect of being the sole bread winner, ‘main har waqt pareshani vich rehna va’ [I always remain stressed out]. Akram has been disabled since birth from the hip down, he has weak muscles and deformed legs. He cannot walk on his legs and uses his hands to drag his body instead. Akram begins his day at 5 am. He washes his hands and rinses his mouth before taking breakfast, which almost always consists of two naans and a bowl of chick-peas. At 8 am he leaves for his place of work. By rickshaw it takes him ten minutes to arrive at Yadgar Chowk. Akram is accompanied by his brother, Amir Ali, who curiously is there as a bodyguard. A year or so ago Akram, after a fight with his father, had run away from home and quit thus reduced the family income to zero. His father got word of his whereabouts and brought him back home. Since this event Amir Ali escorts Akram to work. Partly, to assist Akram in his work and partly to make sure that he does not run away again. Akram stops begging for lunch at 12 pm. He and his brother go to a local hotel called ‘Bismillah Hotel’. They eat rotti with pulses or meat. Lunch costs around 70 rupees for the two. By 12.45 pm he is back at work and keeps working until 4 pm. He told me that he earns between 400 to 600 rupees per day. And on average he hands over to his father about 400 rupees upon arriving back home. Back at home Akram takes a break. At 6 pm he is up again and heads to Begham School where he is studying in 1st class. His teacher told me that he is an intelligent and lively person who has a ‘lust for knowledge’. At 8 pm he returns home and after listening to music for an hour he takes dinner with half a litter of milk and goes to bed. This is his daily routine, except on Sunday when the school is closed, and has been for the last two years.
4. PARSA
4. PARSA Parsa is 25 years old, estranged from her husband and without children, she has two brothers and three sisters and works as a prositute. Her used to make wooden baskets and from his income Parsa’s family managed. However, he died when she was eight years old. Her mother and brothers, having no recourse to skilled labour, turned to begging. When Parsa was seventhteen two brothers and one sister of Parsa got married. To pay for the wedding expenses her mother borrowed 8, 000 rupees from Gudu. The weddings were successful and her sibblings adopted their own household, leaving Parsa, her mother and one sister to feld for themselves. Her sister died soon after from an unknown illness. Parsa and her mother could not afford the prescribed medicine and this neglect, Parsa believes, contributed to the death. Gudu returned to collect his money. Parsa and her mother simply had no way of paying back. Gudu, eventually, gave Parsa’s mother two options and gave her a two month deadline: either pay back the money or let him marry Parsa. Parsa was married to Gudu. Gudu, like Parsa’s father, was a basket marker and at the time of the weddings was forty five years old. The decline in demand for baskets forced Gudu to migrant to Lahore and here he worked at the Fruit Market as a labourer. Parsa recalls that he earned between 100 to 120 rupees per day. However, after a few years of work at the market he stopped going and instead began using drugs. Parsa was now forced into begging. Begging was her occupation for one and half years. In this time she worked in different places; including, Ahmad Chowk, Lakshmi Chowk, Hall Road, Kalma Chowk and Bhaati Gate. Parsa recalls how frustated she had become with her husband, ‘insert quote here’. Given that her husband was of no use either sexually or in earning, she left him and decided to earn for herself alone. She was twenty fours years old. While begging outside Data Darbar she was approached by an aged lady who informed her about prostitution and explained that she would earn a lot more. Parsa had thought about it before but had not really known how to go about it. She was taken to Taxali (brothel center), offered drugs and once they had had their effect she was taken to a customer to have sex. After the sex the customer paid her with a 500 rupee note. The sight of the note delighted Parsa, she told me, ‘hm ne to kabhi 500 k note ki shakal bhi nahi dekhi thi is kam ko krne se pehle’ [I had not even seen the face of a 500 rupee note before doing this work]. The next time Parsa needed money she again went to offer her services at Taxila. She says, ‘mein bhi jawan thi aur dosri larkion ki tarah mera bhi kisi k sath scandle banany aur money kmaney ko dil karta tha’ [I was young and like other ladies was interested in sexual relationships and making money]. Parsa lives in a small hut with a few appliances. It has a bed, a floor sheet, two blankets, one cassette player, one jug, three glasses and one torch. She gets up each day at around 11.30 am and has breakfast. She spends the next few hours in her hut before heading to work at 4 pm. When she reaches Taxili brothel she gets herself ready by putting on a clean clothes, and make up. She pays 200 rupees to her manager lady at the brothel per day to for the dress and make up. She then goes to Data Darbar and other locations in the area to look for customers. She charges 100 rupees per customer and takes them to a hotel to which she pays a monthly amount for the use of a rooms. She takes Sundays off and though she has no fixed timing she manages to eat three times a day. She is not happy with her work and told me, ‘mein ab is kam se thak gae houn aur ab zndagi ki sab se bari khwahish hy k koi acha sa admi shadi kar lay aur muj ko ik bivi ki tarah izat day. [I am tried of this work and my desire is to get married to a nice person and that he should treat me with respect].
Appendix. 1. Photographs from the New Ravi Jhomprian, Lahore, Pakistan. by Muzammil Iqbal
End.
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