Environmental Exception and Martyrdom in Sindh, Pakistan

Talk by Abdul Haque Chang, (Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi)

This talk shows how in Sindh, the state of environmental exception has become the norm for governance (as in Agamben’s formulation regarding the suspension of law). Specifically, this state of exception refers to a situation where necessity takes precedence over the law, resulting in a gap in the legal system. As a result, a zone of indistinction exists where environmental exception has become Pakistan’s governance paradigm in Sindh. Through ethnographic experiences from the Indus Delta, coastal areas of Sindh, urban housing projects, and the land acquisition of Indigenous inhabitants by housing tycoons, this study illustrates how ecological martyrdom is occurring in Sindh due to environmental exception. This study demonstrates how the debates surrounding man-made and nature-based climate change should be located within the broader context of state governance policies in Pakistan, particularly regarding their effects on Sindh. The discussion highlights how the experiences and histories of local communities, along with the processes of urban development in Karachi and Sindh, have impacted specific populations in the pursuit of creating a utopian urban infrastructure that benefits other populations in Pakistan.

Abdul Haque Chang is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi, Pakistan. His ethnographic research focuses on religion, Sufism, music, and environmental anthropology in Sindh, Pakistan, and Java, Indonesia. He is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the concept of “environmental exception” in Sindh, specifically regarding the practice of sacrifice in the context of environmental degradation. Chang has conducted ethnographic research on Sufi music in Sindh, particularly on Shah Jo Raag, a Sufi musical tradition. He studies Javanese Sufism in Indonesia through his project “Jathilan: Performativity and the (Re)Production of Javanese Sacrality.” This project highlights how Javanese performance art challenges gender norms and serves as a form of cultural resistance.