Go Back!: Reclaiming Indigenous Visibility in Literary, Cultural, and Environmental Spaces of Pakistan

Abstract

This paper examines the nexus of visibility and violence in the context of indigenous communities of Pakistan, with a focus on the literary works of Mustansar Hussein Tarar. Through a critical analysis of Tarar’s texts, this study reveals how his narratives subvert the dominant autochthonous discourses (surrounding the sociocultural and geophysical spaces of the Indus Valley), reclaim visibility for the indigenous communities, and thus enable their survival. The intersection of literature, culture, and environment has already been explored by many scholars (De Loughery 2015; Mukherjee 2010; Nixon 2011; Huggan 2004), with some discussions also incorporating the perspectives of indigenous peoples (Dove 2006). By drawing upon the nexus of visibility and violence in the context of environmental spaces discussed by Rob Nixon (2011), this research demonstrates how Tarar’s works challenge representational bias against the visibility of indigenous communities and shows slow violence inflicted upon them, thereby mitigating the detrimental effects of centuries of marginalization. To illustrate this argument, I have chosen two novels by Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Sorrows of Sarasvati originally published as Bahao, and Love in the Shade of Death originally published as Qurbat e Marg Mein Muhabbat. Through these works, Tarar traverses both temporally (from the Indus Valley civilization to the present time) and spatially (from Sarasvati to Sindhu), thereby reprobating the current debates of belonging, reimagining the past and present of the Indus Valley through an indigenous lens, and reclaiming visibility for indigenous people within literary, cultural, and environmental spaces in Pakistan. This study contributes to the ongoing eco-critical debates by highlighting the significance of indigenous literary narratives in imagining alternative spatialities.