The Keyhals, in some areas referred to as Mors, are an indigenous group of economically displaced fishermen of the Indus Valley, still in search of their identity. The community is stretched within 350 kilometres from the Chashma Barrage Dera Ismail Khan to Ghazi Ghat Dera Ghazi Khan on banks of the Indus River. The community is suffering from various problems, as they are still deprived of the right to vote and opinion. Most of them are not registered citizens, as they do not have national identity cards, the basic document establishing citizenship of any country.
Displaced fishermen: Fishing is the major profession of the community, as they do not have any permanent land and live along with the Indus River. Another major problem which the Mors face is the contract system for fishing. Keyhals claim that according to the colonial record, fishing was free to everyone and contracting out the fish on Indus does not have a long history. They said that the contract system for fishing started after partition of the sub-continent. Mors of Punjab are demanding the Punjab government to end the contract system, as it has already been ended in Sindh.
The community considers that the contract fishing system has meant a ban for Keyhals or Mors to fish freely. This has deprived these communities of around 50 to 60 percent of their food and livelihood so far and led to a situation in which if Mors are found fishing on the Indus, they are put in jail on charges of illegal fishing.
Dams, barrages drying up fish: Community members claim that construction of dams, canals and barrages is drying up the river in the downstream area abating the fish and other river food, damaging their livelihood. Member of the Keyhal community, Ameer Bakhsh told Pakistan Today that licensing the fish to contractors has directly deprived them of their right over fish and other river food and now their major source of income was making baskets, which were only sold for Rs 40 to 45. Contractors buy fish from them on extremely cheap rates. He said that contractors exploit them and buy fish for Rs 20 or 30 per kilogrammes and easily sold them for Rs 300 in the market.
Bonded under loans: A worker of an NGO Hirrak told Pakistan Today that the Punjab government’s attitude towards these people was totally apathetic, as these people had been deprived of their basic rights such as education and health for so long. A volunteer of Action Aid said that there was a large number of Mors who are indebted under huge loans. Keyhals are still homeless and had to live in boats. He said that so-called landlords exploit them, therefore, the community was forced to work under bonded labour.
Mors also claim that contamination of the river near urban centres further reduces fish and introduction of exotic fish species in the River Indus is another reason behind the reduction of fish. The tradition of taking care of their own health, the Keyhals’ ability of self-treatment is declining. Major diseases such as malaria, common fever, cough, diarrhea and TB are common in the community. They used to treat it through local plants. Women are more vulnerable, as they use traditional ways of delivery and if any complications occur they cannot approach hospitals mainly because of distance.
Catalogued in colonial history: An Action Aid member says that the only historical references available on the community are colonial ones. Almost all gazetteers of that time speak about this river community. Curiously this group has totally disappeared in all census reports. Around 90 percent of these people do not even own national identity cards but according to sources, total population of this indigenous group is 40,000. They used to travel up and down and shift on east and west of the Indus according to their livelihood and cultural needs. The river kept them as a group and connected them from upstream to downstream. They had a distinct culture and used to recreate and celebrate with pride.
As far as education is concerned, children of the Mor community do not have any education facility. The increasing dependence on neighbouring communities has made them learn that education is a must for any socio-political improvement in their lives. Now some NGOs have started working there to provide health and education facilities. Locals told Pakistan Today that skin diseases are increasing due to contaminated and toxic water. Lack of health facilities is compelling citizens to use old cure methods such as drinking contaminated river water for treatment, which according to them is a best solution for most of their diseases.
Locals believe that since construction of dams, barrages and canals under Indus Basin Development Programme in the 1960s, the Indus River lost two-thirds of its water and abandoned much of its bed or side-land by the same degree. The land abandoned by the river is now claimed by neighbouring landlords as their ancestral property, while the indigenous groups have to take permission from these encroachers for setting up their huts on these lands.