Politics of Disasters: An Ethnography of Disaster Affected Communities in District Chitral

Abstract

This ethnographic study aims to present a detailed account of the relationship between politics and disaster in two valleys of district Chitral, Reshum and Kalash. Chitral is a land locked area located in the North West of Pakistan. The present study spans over thirteen months during 2017-18. The data was collected through participant observation, informal discussions, semi-structured and structured interviews, life histories, and case studies. Chitral was a princely state before its merger to Pakistan in 1969. Roughly three social status groups existed in the princely state including the ruling elites (adamzade) and nobles known as (arbabzade), the middle-status (yuft), and the lower-status (ghalamus/shirmoosh, etc). The research unpacks that the historically embedded social stratification resulted in differential vulnerability to natural disasters. The lower status groups, being marginalized, are the most affected groups in flash floods in both the selected locales. After the merger, a new power structure was introduced in the shape of bureaucratic institutions that affected the already existing power edifice. Similarly, owing to the introduction of democratic institutions a new political contestation led to the establishment of a new power structure and power dynamics in Chitral district. As a result new political players emerged. These players become stakeholders in the politics of disaster includes village councilors, leaders of lower-status groups and upper-status groups, district and sub-district Nazims (mayor/local government head), and members of provincial assemblies, officers of district administration and Non-Government Organization’s officials play a crucial role in the disaster management. However, the data shows that a clash of interests exists between and within these groups. Firstly, there is an inherent clash of interests among the local community’s stakeholders, which is xi intensified by the post disaster reconstruction process. Secondly interaction between district administration including other state institution and local communities also increases in the post disaster circumstances that lead to a bargaining situation between the local leaders and state bodies. This clash of interests and bargaining situation between different stakeholders is often reflected in the forms of contestation, agitation, and struggle for maximizing interests in the relief and reconstruction process that I call the “politics of disasters”. Current study suggests that “politics of disaster” not only affects the process of disaster management but also adds to the vulnerability of the already vulnerable groups. Thus I propose that we need to understand the politics of disaster to understand not only disaster management processes but vulnerabilities of the people to natural hazards and disasters. Keywords:, Flash Floods, Politics of Disasters, State Institutions, , Stakeholders, Disaster Management, Chitral, Pakistan,