“Scheduled caste members have
very limited access to health
facilities....
Village
health
facilities often refuse to serve
members of the scheduled
castes.”
lower caste Hindu groups in Mirphurkhas were
extremely unwilling to criticize their worsening
situation and grateful that they were not kicked
off the land all together (Pesticide Action Network
Asia & the Pacific, 2012:10).
Others were not so lucky. A Meghwar village was
forcefully evacuated for an intended residential
development. Since Al-Dahra has entered the
picture, about 100-150 Meghwar and Kolhi
families were moved because their homes were
on land that is part of the lease agreement
(Pesticide Action Network Asia & the Pacific,
2012:16).
Caste Based Discrimination
Meghwars, Kohlis and Bheels reside mostly in
rural areas. There are disputes about the size
of the population of the scheduled castes, with
official statistics limiting their number to about
300,000 out of the Hindu population of about
2 million. Scheduled caste members claim that
they comprise the majority of Pakistan’s Hindu
population. Census data inquires about religion
but does not clearly ask about caste affiliation, so it
is not reliable in this regard. Estimates suggest that
70-90% of Hindus in Pakistan belong to scheduled
caste communities. If this is true and census data
is inaccurate, then marginalization of scheduled
92
caste members begins from here. Development
schemes and quotas for employment are skewed
against them (Shah, 2007:17).
Scheduled caste members have very limited access
to health facilities. Thus, rates of tuberculosis,
Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are high, as well as
infant mortality and malnutrition. Village health
facilities often refuse to serve members of the
scheduled castes. Women are forced to turn to
midwives of their same caste when giving birth
(Shah, 2007:32)
The literacy rate of scheduled caste members
is appallingly low: 74% are illiterate, 15% have
completed primary school, 4% have completed
matriculate, and 1% are graduates (Shah, 2007:
30). Education is constrained by lack of schools
and teachers (Shah, 2007:59). Malnutrition
and discrimination restricts education further.
Children are more likely to be beaten in school.
They are expected to sit in the back of the
classrooms and are made to clean schools (Shah,
2007:39). Curriculums are also discriminatory
with an anti-Hindu bias (Shah, 2007:60).
Shelter is also severely lacking. Their houses
are without toilets, sewage, running water or
electricity. Portable drinking water is not available.
Their housing communities are separate and
often located on the outer perimeters of the
village (Shah, 2007:32,34).
There are severe enforcements against intercaste marriage. Scheduled caste members were
even being denied relief provisions after natural
calamities (Shah, 2007:33).
They are excluded from the political structure
of the state. They are not mentioned in political
party manifestos. The Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers and the Medium Term Development
Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC)
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