Interrogating the Projection of Fiction-as-Facts: Appropriation of the Spaces of Caste in Sindhi Short Stories and in Everyday Politics in Pakistan

This paper is an attempt to understand the intersected nature of the appropriation of the spaces, events and acts of oppressed castes (and gender) in the  ̳Progressive‘ Sindhi short stories and in everyday politics. I specifically discuss the three popular short stories that are projected as having exceptional emancipatory potential for the Dalits and women. Mounting the Ambedkarian critique of the Progressive writers‘ political agenda premised on Sindhi nationalism, I interrogate the short-story writer‘s caste location and the content of short stories having empirical consequences for Dalit (women) in everyday life. I contend that even these seemingly pro-Dalit and pro-woman fictional narratives and their empirical interpretations, do not pass the test of Ambedkarian epistemology as they do not show any commitment to the annihilation of caste/casteism and gender disparities, and rather suggest objectification of Dalit bodies instead of emancipation through Dalit agency. Although the appropriated projection of facts in fiction may temporarily invoke Ashrafia morality to confront casteism, yet they are largely apologetic in their tenor, and eventually turn out to be counterproductive. The stories, being primarily fashioned in Ashrafia-Savarna narrative, facilitate the Ashrafia-Savarna elite to


The Introduction
‗Sindhi language' is the cultural universal in postcolonial Sindh 1 , in which bulk of the local literature is published in the form of books, magazines, newspapers 2 . Inspired by the international modern progressive movement in politics and literature during the 1950s and 1960s, the Sindhi writers identified themselves as ‗Taraki-Pasand' (Progressive) (see Malkani, 1993;Hussain, 1997;Memon, 2002;Siraj, 2009;Paleejo, 2012;Paleejo, 2016;Chandio, 2016). ‗Progressiveness' is explained by Dr. Ghafoor Memon, a Sindhi literary critic, as ‗an attitude, perspective and the movement that has been there in every era' such as during the Greek period ‗when Socrates rebelled against the traditions of his time and gave forth a new philosophy, and stood for truth.' (Memon, 2002, p.279, or when European populace began resisting against feudalism, religiosity and fanaticism during French and October (socialist) revolution, and in process, rationality and scientific thinking symbolic of ‗Progressive' attitudes, emerged (Memon, 2002, p.279).
In this paper, I critique the casteist aspects of the Progressive literary-political terrain as it manifests from the projection of short stories in everyday politics by the Progressives, by the Ashrafia elite and by Dalits to create space for the Dalit' 3 . I contend that despite occasional anticaste and anti-patriarchal narration in a few short stories, the Progressives' primarily frame these issues in a manner so that it could correspond with their agenda of ‗political Sufism' (see Hussain, 2019a), facilitate the appropriation of the spaces, events or histories and heroes of Dalits, thereby undermining the life-world and worldview of Dalits.
It gradually revealed to me during my fieldwork in 2016 in lower Sindh that despite the fact that Dalit issues were undermined coupled with the fact that unlike Sayeds and Sammat castes, Sindhi language was not the mother tongue of most of the Dalit communities 4 , Dalits 3 Also locally known as ‗Darawar' and Scheduled Castes, there live estimated 2-6 million Dalits.
Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar are three major Dalit castes that inhabit in Sindh (see Hussain, 2019). 4 Dalit worldview and the fundamental conceptions of self and society are essentially framed, for instance, in Gujarati or Parakari, Dhatki or Rajasathani and Marvari or Kacthi languages.
Therefore, they cannot express their deepest emotions and experiences in Sindhi language which were greatly influenced and impressed by the popular literature produced by that Progressive class. This shows not only the level of ‗hegemonic' (see Gramsci, 1971;Hussain, 2019b) influence of Ashrafia 5 -Savarna class over Dalits, but also the epistemic freedom of the Ashrafia class to construct the narrative of their choice out of short stories, novels and poetry that they  Hussain, 2019;Ahmad, 2003;Kazuo, 2004

Theoretical Framework
The key factor that I analyze in this paper is the appropriation of Dalit spaces and identities by the Progressive short story writers and by the Progressive Ashrafia and non-Ashrafia (Dalitbahujan) interpreters. The purpose is to see if the historical narratives and their fictionalized characters allow Ashrafia intrusion in the in Dalit spaces, and if in any way helps achieve the egalitarian purpose of caste-parity, social inclusion and justice ( see for instance, Sayed, 1952;Sayed, 1974;Sayed, 2013),and hence promoting the tendency to ‗Ashrafize' (Kazuo, 2004;Buehler,2012).
6 Amar Jaleel received Kamal-i-Fun award, which is the highest award in Pakistan in the field of literature. Apart from that he also received Pride of Performance (Pakistan) and Akhil Bharat Sindhi Sahat Sabha National Award of India.
Although this way of critiquing casteism from the Dalitbahujan or Ambedkarian perspective ( see Ambedkar, 1944;(1991Ilaiah, 2010;Guru & Sarukai, 2012;Hussain, 2018, Hussain, 2019aHussain, 2019b) is line with the subaltern, critical and the Marxist theories of literary criticism (see Behdad, 2011;Damrosch, 2009;Eagleton, 2002), yet it also mounts the critique of both the Marxist and the subaltern or the postcolonial approaches that did not bring caste(ism), as argued by Ambedkarites, into due consideration (see Kumar, 2016a;Kumar, 2016b). Ambedkarism demands the explicit anti-caste stance from the literary critics of the societies based on caste discrimination (see Guru, 2011a;2011b;Kumar, 2018

Situating Short Stories in Sindhi Progressive Literature
The Progressives boast of, and probably rightly so, that both in terms of quantity and as the instrument of political awareness, after Urdu, Sindhi language has the second richest stock of literature in Pakistan (Paleejo, 2016, p.11 Memon, 2002, p.28;Jaleel, 1998;Jaleel, 2007;Shah, 2007a;Shah, 2007b;Jaleel, 2012 Memon, 2002, p 314-15 (Abro, 1958, p. 325), and in ‗Mau Ji Jholi' an Ashrafia class woman is depicted as embracing a Bhangi (Dalit) child (Abro, 1958, p.326). Similarly, Noorul Huda Shah 7 , a Sayed woman herself, has written a few anti-Sayed short stories that indirectly defend the Dalitbahujan right to equal social treatment (Shah, 2007 a;Shah,, 2007b;Memon, 2002 ). Her short story ‗Dozkhi' also brings to light the racism of Sindhi people against Sheedi caste of the Black African descent (Shah, 2007 (Manik, 1992). This shows the level of the critique that Manik had mounted, and because of which he was deliberately alienated from the mainstream Progressive circles as he did not even explicitly subscribed to Sufi nationalist narrative and delved in existentialism.
Notwithstanding her extraordinary self-critical and anti-Sayed stance and the feminist  Memon, 2002, p.319). Moreover, the scathing criticism that a few of these anti-Sayed Ashrafia class writers faced is also an indicator of the lack of ‗shared space' for the Dalit intellectuals (mostly identified as Hindus as well) to expose Sayedism. Hence, although their ideological and discursive trajectory was highly critical from the Ashrafia egalitarian or the Sufi nationalist perspective, it did not seem to qualify for the wholehearted approval by the Dalit-feminist intellectuals and or the Ambedkarites (see for instance, Guru, 1995;Lata, 2015;Kundu, 2017;Sripathi, 2017;Velaskar, 2012;Margaret, 2012).
In the sections that follow, I would further explain through Ambedkarian perspective, the excerpts from three popular short stories by Amar Jaleel, Naseem Kharal and Ali Baba as regards how they (mis)fit as the anti-caste and anit-patriarchal Progressives.

Dust of Earth and Stars of Sky
The short story ‗Dust of Earth and Stars of Sky' (Dharti ji Dhoor, Asman jaa Taara) by Amar Jaleel arouses the compassion for Bali, a Bheel (Dalit) woman who had been seduced and raped by Shahu, a Sayed patriarch. To give the reader an idea of the ideological lens of the writer to the problem of casteism, I am quoting below the translation of selective sections of the story.
[Depicts the beauty and social vulnerability of a Hindu Dalit woman] The emotions of the youthful age cannot be controlled by the systems of caste or religion. He was consoling himself that he was killing a newborn daughter in the name of God. To save a Sayed child from wandering among the Bheels. In the afterlife, God will give him his due reward. In case it did not happen as planned, then at least he had that genealogical capital of being Sayed to intercede before God. (p.101) (Jameel, 1998, 68-103) The story depicts tragic socioeconomic and personal vulnerability of Dalit women due to which they are often raped and made pregnant by Ashrafia men. From the Ambedkarian perspective the story has great a emancipatory value. It brings into relief the Dalit women's oppression vis-à-vis Sayed. The writer enters into the minds of both the oppressor and the oppressed and brings out the caste-based arrogance of the Sayed, and the haplessness and humiliation of the Dalit woman.
The story, in a way, imputes Asharfia castes, particularly Sayeds and Muslims of committing this structural injustice to the Dalit (women). In a highly pro-Sayed society in which even the Progressive writers are reluctant to speak against Sayeds, the writer has shown a great dare to impute Sayeds, the risk that no Dalit intellectual can afford to take. Dr. Ghafoor Memon writes in his review of the story: There is a specific nature of the honor and the respect of Sayeds in Sindh, whereby people confer upon them the status of Murshid (spiritual leaders), and consider them as the continuation of Prophet Muhammad's progeny, and to themselves as ‗ummatis' (social subjects of Sayeds) thus assigning themselves lower status. No doubt, the respect for Sayeds in its own way is justified, but there have been Sayeds in history who has taken an undue advantage of that status. After the coming of modern progressive wave, the thinking has evolved not to discriminate on the caste and race. (Memon, 2002, p. 259) The Ambedkarites may not accept that apology and the conferring of credit to Ashrafia-laden Progressive class, and may raise certain fundamental concerns. For instance, the writer does not suggest any escape for the Dalits out of that situation thereby leaving them in the depressed state.
Bali, a Dali woman, is shown to give birth to the child, but her psychological strength is not depicted as to surpass the social and political prowess of his Sayed seducer. Fearing that her child could be killed by the Sayed(s), she even hides the act of seduction and the fact that Sayed was a father of her child. Although this exemplifies the caste-based and religion-based structural violence of high order and the counter-resistance by the individual Dalit woman, the Ambedkarites may have liked to take it further into the collective domain of resistance to enthuse the spirit of collective resistance. Hence, the story ends up abruptly leaving the Ashrafia reader in a state of compassion for Dalits, and to Dalits in a state of self-pity.
Although in many other short stories and public statements, Amar Jaleel certainly seems to stand against Sayeds and Pirs in so far as his own caste privilege (dis)allows him to be, yet the frequency and the number of such stories that depict Dalit oppression in relation to Sayedism is comparatively very low. This story, therefore, is the only one of its kind written by him that

Infidel and the Progressive Solution to Ashrafia-Savarna domination
Like any other piece of literature, one of the social utility of the short stories is to explain the social and political phenomena. ‗Kafir' (infidel), a short story written in 1960s by Naseem Kharal, the Ashrafia class feudal, furnishes one of the exceptionally counterintuitive anti-caste narratives. The patriarchal import of the ‗Infidel' is ignored, and often presented by the Progressives as the explanation of both the religious and caste discrimination and untouchability that pervades across religions in Sindhi society, and to prove that Sufi nationalist path is the most appropriate one for the (Hindu) Dalits to mutually coexist in the predominantly Muslim Sindh.
Before, further elaborating upon it, I quote from the story a dialogue between a supposedly  Kothari, 2009) 13 . Hence, the exchange of persuasive dialogue in ‗Infidel' is often interpreted by Sindhi nationalists and the progressive writers as the caution against the threat to an ‗exemplary' interfaith harmony that once existed between (Jati)

Hindus and Muslims
In this particular case, deviating from the Progressive's typical stance, Dr. Ghafoor Memon, however, argues that the major import of the story is to show that cultural and class (caste)-based norms are stronger than religion. He argues that Muslims are proved to be hypocrites as on the one hand they believe that there is no discrimination in Islam based on caste, on the other they also discriminates as do the Hindus (Memon, 2002. p.345 One the one hand we surpass all limits of exaggeration and slogan mongering to prove that there is not caste system in Islam and on the other, in reality, we are the leading custodians of the system of untouchability and casteism. Rasool Bux Paleejo in Memon, 2002, p.346) The recognition of the problem of casteism, however, does not bar the Progressives to look for its antidote in Marxism and nationalism. The moral of the story that is often highlighted by the Progressives is related to ‗interfaith harmony' or the religious discrimination instead of the embededness of patriarchy and caste under the gloss of religion. As Memon argues, this story supports the argument of the communists that social equality (devoid of casteism) can be achieved through socialism and communism, that ensures economic equality, and the values of equality so generated out of such a system will eventually eradicate casteism and untouchability (Memon, 2002, p.346 This suggestion, however, does not bar Dalits Ashrafise without conversion, that is, to revere Sayeds, Pirs and Sufis is adopted while remaining Hindus. Looking from the Ambedkarian perspective, this form of ritual inversion, however, does not resolve the fundamental problem, that is, caste discrimination and untouchability, and resultantly ‗dissonance' (Festinger,1962;Hussain, 2019) persists between the assumption of being Sufi Sindhis and the empirically existing caste based discriminatory practices within Sufi nationalist domain (see Hussain, 2019b). Contrary to the Progressives' claims, the Ashrafia intervention into Dalit spaces of decision-making and identity (re)formation, proves the persistence of hegemonic influence of Ashrafia class over the (re)construction, (re)formation and the negotiation of Dalit identities, thereby disallowing them to come up with their own alternative counter-hegemonic narratives (see Guru, 2011a).

'The Prisoner of Karoonjhar' and the Appropriation of Dalit Heroes and Spaces
The inversion of the history of a Dalit rebel/ fighter is exemplified in ‗The Prisoner of Karoonjhar' 16 (Karoonjhar jo Qaidi), a short story written by Ali Baba (Rind Baloch by caste). In this story, Rooplo Kolhi is depicted as the hero of Sindh who fought bravely during the middle of the 19 th century when the British attempted to establish its writ over Parkar, a small mountainous region surrounded by Rann of Katch on the south and Thar Desert of Sindh on the North. Rooplo Kolhi, as the locals believe, was a Girasia, that is, the tribal chief recognized as such by rulers of the time, particularly by the Mughals (see Mal, 2000;Kolhi V. , 2011;Kolhi B. M., 2014). The narrative depicted in Ali Baba's story is not much different than most of the Kolhis and Sindhi people believe in. It has both emancipatory as well as hegemonoic and counter-hegemonic aspects depending upon who patronises whom. 16 Karoonjhar is an isolated mountain about 7 kilometers in length at the center of Parkar, the hiding place for the rebels during the British occupation of Tharparkar. For the first time, Trywhitt felt that no alien nation can occupy the lands of foreign nation for more than 25 years, but they might be compelled to vacate Karoonjhar probably even before 12 years.
As it is evident from the above excerpts of the story, Rooplo Kolhi is depicted as the independent freedom fighter who fought against the British to reclaim his ‗Mulk' (Parkar). The impression is created that Parkar was a part of Sindh and Rooplo, therefore, fought for Sindh. Karoonjhar symbolizes Sindh in miniature and the local castes symbolized the Sindhi nation that was resisting against the British. In a latest ‗progressive' compilation of essays in Sindhi, Rooplo Kolhi's confrontation with the British is projected not just as fidelity to the local ‗upper caste' rulers but to nation. For instance, equating tribal ethic to stand by the side of the local ruler with the national patriotism, Dr. Azad writes: By having a look on the overall scenario during that period, it becomes evident that it was the period during which to remain loyal to the local ruler under the given tribal system was considered as loyalty to the nation. By and large the same kind of struggles can be evidenced during Mughal era against British. (Qazi, 2015, p.11) This nationalist projection, that legitimizes the subordination of the oppressed castes to the local oppressor castes for the sake of freedom from or resistance to the external forces (the British), Like Dalits themselves, this counter narrative is also very marginal and very few even among Dalit activists subscribe to an essentially Ambedkarian perspective on history and historiography. Yet there are many points on which they converge and that deviate from the Ashrafia-dominated nationalist narrative.
Before the Partition of the subcontinent, Parkar was imagined by Kolhis as well as by other Parkari communities as ‗Mulk' (literally, a country different from Sindh) ( Mal, 2000;Kolhi V. , 2011;Kolhi B. M., 2014). Given the historical profile of the characters, which is very vague though, this story by Ali Baba cannot be interpreted like the other two discussed above that are essentially based on fictitious characters. In this story history is inflated through fiction; while in the previous stories, fiction is created to depict contemporary social reality. Hence, the characterization of Rooplo Kohi through Ashrafia literary narrative has the historically real import for Kolhis, Dalits and the Progressives alike. It has contemporary political relevance as it seems in line with the Dalit's tendency to ashrafise (see Hussain, 2019b;Mal, 200)  centuries. Talpur and Kalhora rulers of Sindh occasionally used to intervene in Tharparkar to establish their writ, which was often thwarted by the Sodhas. Sodhas of Parkar had their own communal system of management that they used to call ‗Gurr Raj', and variant of land tax collection called ‗Raney jo Jalang'(sack of Rana) was in vogue by virtue of which all Rajputs /Sodha Thakurs were exempt from the land tax (Qazi, 2015, p.7-8). While Parkar had its own semi-autonomous political economy, it was not completely independent of the influences of the rulers of Sindh and were given various exemptions and waivers to collect taxes from the local pastoralists and peasants. (see Ojha 1966, p.104). When the British conquered Sindh in 1847, they reduced the Rana's right and share of taxes to a half, while allowed them to maintain their own jagreers (fiefs) ( Qazi, 2015, p.7-8) Similarly, both the Ali Baba as well as Parkari Kolhis do not bring into framework the fact that Meghwar community (Dalits) had already submitted to the British to emancipate from the Sodha Thakurs. They also undermine the fact that Talpur rulers of Sindh were also subdued by the British and even employed against the Sodha Thakurs ( Mal, 2000;Kolhi V. , 2011;Kolhi B. M., 2014).
They also neglect the fact that it was the army of Talpur rulers of Sindh that fought together with the British to crush Sodha Thakur resistance in Nangarparkar (see Raikes, ((1856Raikes, (( ) 2009). They do not acknowledge that Parakari Kolhis, in fact, fought as army men for the Sodha Thakur (Savarna) rulers of Parkar, who did not even consider Kolhis as proper Hindus.
The historically anomalous ethnic and geographical status of Parkar can also be confirmed from the fact that before the annexation of Parkar to Sindh by the British , Parkar was under the jurisdiction of Bhuj (Katch, now in India), and that both the Dalits and the Savarnas of Parakar were ethnically and politically aligned more with their respective caste fellows and co-religionists in Kutch than with the land and people of Sindh the borders of which lied where from the Thar Desert began ( see Mal, 2000;Kolhi V. , 2011;Raikes, ((1856Raikes, (( ) 2009); Kolhi B. M., 2014). Similarly, the local narrative about the British agent Tyrwhitt, who is now demonized as the persecutor, was hailed as local hero by Tharparkari people. Abdul Qadir Junejo writes: Thari people have unique instinct of liking and making heroes for themselves. Mughal Emperor Akbar was a legendary figure for them only second to local deities, so was General Taroot (Tyrwhitt). Despite the fact that Taroot was the one who overwhelmed Sodha Rajputs and hanged Rooplo Kolhi, he was highly praised and eulogized by Tharis in folk songs, and folklore during and after Taroot's times. (Junejo, 2010, p. 126) This pre-colonial narrative was gradually overtaken bythe postcolonial nationalist narrative whereby the praise of Tyrwhitt was considered as symbolic of the slavish imperialistic attitude. Given this ambiguous history, it can be argued that the Progressive's narrative of Rooplo Kolhi, that is inadvertently, picked up by Dalits as well, is premised on the self-serving all-unifying nationalist fantasy that more than giving the emancipatory push to the Dalit cause rather hampers it. Kolhi activists, consider this projection as the sort of recognition of the value and worth of Kolhi community within the comity of Sindhi castes, and see this re-nationalization of ‗Amar (eternal) or ‗Shahee' (Martyr) Rooplo Kolhi', as the derive to create social and political space for their marginal community ( Mal, 2000;Kolhi V. , 2011;Kolhi B. M., 2014). Hence, except the minor antipathy towards Ashrafia-dominated Sindh that sometimes reflects from Kolhi's hidden script, Parkar is largely imagined by them as the integral part of Sindh, and Rooplo as the foremost Sindhi national hero, the recognition that could not be had without the approval of ‗authentic nationalists' (i.e. Ashrafia-Savarna elite).  Nicolas, 2006;Naik, 2010, p. 32.) himself with the nationalists as against the ruling feudal class of Sindh uploaded a Facebook status: The 159  Samaj, Dayanand Saraswathi and Gandhi, and supported the idea of purity (shuddhi) and was against religious conversion (Rabbani, 2016;Trivedi, 2017). Their narratives are unlike of Ambedkar's Dalit, who is courageous and infused with zeal to fight against untouchability and exploitation and live with dignity.
To evade this sociological reality, the Progressives give forth the post-hoc interpretations of the historical narratives, such as in case of Rooplo Kolhi, or appropriated Dalit oppression for their Sufi nationalist cause that diluted the problemtisation of casteism (also of gender discrimination) and highlighted the problem of religious persecution, fanaticism and also feudalism. The narrative of Rooplo Kolhi has both emancipatory as well as hegemonoic and counterhegemonic aspects depending upon who patronises whom. Since Rooplo did not primarily fought against Savarna-Ashrafia domination, and instead fought for restoring the Ashrafia-Savarna hegmony against the Britith The stories, in general, analysed the problem of casteism as peripheral to their projection of nationalist goal, to which caste is not a bigger hindrance as much as religion. Resultantly, instead of giving Dalits emancipating thrust, the stories end up abruptly leading the Ashrafia reader (for whose consumption they primarily write) to pity the Dalits and sympathize with them, while leaving Dalits in a state of self-pity. An Ambedkarite might have taken these stories further and have inverted the individual Dalits' tension into the collective resistance at the level of community. Hence, the Ambedkarites may make the counterintuitive demands from the Progressives to invert both the pure fiction and the fictionalized history so that the frictions of caste and gender, or the embededness of caste, gender and religion could be brought to the fore.
Most of the Progressives seem incapable to fulfill that demand as it conflicts with their Sufi nationalist narrative.
Related to this epistemological demand, is the lack of privileged space afforded to Dalit writers to express their feelings and emotions that no Ashrafia writer can. Except ah few, which lie at the margin, there is not noteworthy Dalit short story writers found among the comity of the Progressives in Sindh. This situation, at least at the level of epistemic justice or equality, continues to be heavily tilted in favor of the Progressive Ashrafia writers whose primary aim, even while giving voice to the Dalits, has been to suggest the unity of all Sindhi castes including Dalit castes against the external Ashrafia oppressor. Since the quantity, quality, content and the interpretation of short stories of the Progressives reflected above summarised facts, I conclude that although the narrative emergent of these stories creates a temporary anxiety in Ashrafia consciousness to confront casteism, yet it facilitates the appropriation of Dalit heroes and Dalit spaces by the Ashrafia elite and merely