| ID | 193291 |
| Title Proper | Organising the Sheikh sanitation workers in Srinagar |
| Other Title Information | from the politics of dignity to Pasmanda activism? |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Shah, Hafsa Sayeed |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article seeks to make sense of the collective mobilisation of sanitation workers, who mainly belong to the Sheikh caste, in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, I document how two organisations—the sanitation workers’ union and the All Jammu and Kashmir Pasmanda Tabqajat Federation—pursue a politics of dignity to counter the historical and systemic discrimination that the Sheikhs have traditionally faced. I highlight the differences between the two organisations. While the former mainly focuses on work-related issues, the latter seeks to translate the politics of Pasmanda assertion in the Kashmiri context. In this process, it struggles to bring about political solidarity across Pasmanda caste groups. Overall, this article also suggests that the Sheikhs’ endeavour to counter invisibilisation fractures the notion of a homogenous Kashmiri Muslim population protesting only against occupation. |
| `In' analytical Note | Contemporary South Asia Vol. 31, No.3; Sep 2023: p.458-468 |
| Journal Source | Contemporary South Asia Vol: 31 No 3 |
| Key Words | Caste ; Kashmir ; Pasmanda ; Sanitation workers ; Sheikh |