“If education is the name of Alif Ba, then we are ignorant; if education is the name of reading nature, like reading laliayn (Mina) or Gharay(bird), and reading matti (clay), then we are PhDs.” Makhmoor Qalandri
It is very painful that the man who belongs to the indigenous world, ‘Man of the Hole,’ the last member of his Amazon tribe, dies in Brazil The “Man of the Hole” lived in isolation and resisted contact for decades after the rest of his tribe was massacred. His death precedes Brazil’s elections, where Indigenous rights are on the ballot. In this capitalistic world where everything that belongs to indigenous land is dying, it is not a piece of good news for those of us who belong to indigenous areas. From Mianwali to the border of Sindh, Saraiki Wasib has rich cultural values, historical sites, beautiful folk stories, peaceful people, and multifariousness.
For the last two decades, Wasib has faced a severe threat to its indigenous biodiversity, as many beautiful birds, small animals, and reptiles are on the edge of extinction. In early 2000, many birds were part of Wasib, and many others came from Siberia, Central Asian states, and the Russian Federation. Many Saraiki writers used the indigenous and migratory birds as similes and metaphors in their poetry and novels, like Dr. Ashu Laal’s elegiac poetry on knoojan, an emotional relationship with a Knooj in Dr. Sheeraz Dasti’s novel (SaSa), and Shamim Arif Qureshi wrote a whole book on Neel khant. All three authors have described Wasib’s collective behavior in response to the visiting birds. Most Wasib residents loved birds in the early 2000s, but as time passed and technology-controlled society’s minds and materialism became a part of their souls, it was the beginning of Wasib’s biodiversity destruction.
In Saraiki Wasib, most common birds lived in mud houses, khanish trees (old trees), and in the tubha’s (mining) holes, but due to the materialistic needs of humans, they had changed the pattern of life, and mud houses were converted to concrete, khanish trees were cut by the local and illegal shooting of birds has become the common routine of the people, and the most dangerous thing is the land allotment of the retired officer, which is a serious threat to Wasib. Many animals and birds of the Thall desert are under threat due to these allotments.
In early 2000, many birds like Lalian (Mina)Toty (parrots), Cherian (Sparrows), Darkhan Pakho (Woodcutter), Phidian (Finches, lemon-romped warbler), Titar (Partridge, Grey francolin), Ghuggi, Gharay, Bataray (quail), and Bahbiay (small birds) were part of the Wasib’s beautiful nature, but now they are extinct from the Wasib. If they are living, they are the last members of their family. Environmental changes and insufficient government policies toward Wasib’s biodiversity are the main causes of biodiversity extinction.
Even visiting birds have changed their flying patterns now that they go to other countries because we are killers of nature. At a time when every country is trying to preserve its biodiversity, we should have to work on our indigenous biodiversity because this biodiversity has a historical connection with us and it is our cultural identity. The government should take immediate steps to save Wasib’s diversity; otherwise, the capitalistic behavior of society will destroy everything.
Neel Kanth: Without you, what is the glory?
How to cry and how to laugh
Separated from their own,
What to write and what to say
Sawan taking a bath in the forest
When the forest is lush and green,
Neil Kanth Do not forget us.
Everything else should be forgotten.
(Dr. Ashu Laal)
