The Malayalees in Pakistan

Earlier I had written about the Anglo Indians who were the remnants of the British rule in India. There were some Luso Indians (Parangi’s) in Cochin, Bombay, Goa and North Malabar after the Portuguese left and there were of course the descendants of the Islamic rulers in Lucknow, Delhi and Hyderbad. There existed during this time a dominant minority group of Arab (Aden & Gulf origin) Muslims who integrated into the diasporas of Malabar, but this article relates to the minority group of Mappilas of Kerala.. The early Arab settlers married locally the offspring were the forbearers of the Moplah community.

This is about the Malabari community who left India after the Mappila revolt in 1921 and went to Pakistan. Some may also recall my previous mention of the roaring Betel leaf trade between Tirur near Kozhikode and Pakistan. Due to the deep cultural divides in Malabar after 1921 Mappila revolt and the subsequent partitioning of Pakistan a sizeable number of Malayali Muslims moved to Karachi (others moved to Ceylon, Malaysia, Burma and Indonesia). It was a ‘hijrat’ for them or migration under pressure of existence. They felt alienated in the Malabar community and felt that Pakistan was the answer.

As Congress distanced itself from the Moplas and the British went after the rebellion with vigor, the Moplas left the national political scene and retired to communal politics. The Muslim league in 1930’s was in support of the formation of Pakistan after the death of the ‘Khilafat movement’ and promoted even a ‘Moplasthan’ in Malabar by 1947 (Kaleidoscopic Ethnicity - Prema A. Kurien, pg 51). The claim was based on their Arab heritage and difference from other communities of Malabar. Subsequently the government acceded to the formation of a separate district for this purpose, namely Malappuram.

They soon settled down in traditionally familiar business such as timber, tea shops or hotels, textiles, import-export & biscuit factories at Karachi. However most realized that this was not the answer to their isolation. The weather, the culture, the food, the clash of communities (Shia Vs Sunni, North vs South) and the foreign ambience was too much for many. Some returned quickly and assimilated. Some got Pakistani passports and became Pakistanis, but then they realized that the green passport left them culturally stranded in Karachi. Neither did the Pakistani’s become fond of the ‘mujahir’s’ not did the Moplah’s feel wanted. They could not regain Indian citizenship without extreme struggle.

The interesting part was that unlike migration from other communities, the moplah migration differed in the sense that it was mainly able bodied male members of the family who migrated leaving behind their wives and children back in Kerala. Thus they managed to retain their cultural and linguistic identity, but at the same time acquired loneliness and even more frustration.

The story of one such person was beautifully enacted by Mohanlal (as Valiyadathu Moosa) in the Malayalam film ‘Pardesi’ (foreigner). While the movie dwelled on the plight of an elderly few who were nomadic and were treated as nation-less people, the focus of the movie was on the feelings of being unwanted and their desire to spend old age and to die in their motherland. Chased mercilessly by the police of both sides, they were forced to take cruel decisions. In the movie ‘Moosa’ is stranded as a worker in Karachi during the partition (btw he had not gone there due to the revolts of 1921, but to find gainful employment) – a popular metropolis for job seekers. Apparently some 3,000 Malayali’s were stranded in Karachi when the partition came.

An article in the Dawn newspaper reported that Karachi’s Muslim Malabari colony is located in Mojahir camp in Karachi. Today they are well-known hoteliers, fast food and paan shop owners. Malabari cuisine is known for its masala dosa, banana-sag, coconut-kari, hot spices, small-fish fry, daal chawal and a delicious variety of vegetable dishes, which have added to Karachi’s culinary scene. Many Malabaris have married into other Muslim communities of Pakistan, and do not wear their traditional dress of a dhoti and bush-coat with a piece of white cloth on the shoulder. “Our daughters are married to Memons and other peaceful communities. Many Sindhi men and women have married Malabaris,” says Shafi Malabari. Today, barely 6,000 remain, and most of them have lost their Malayalee identity. Most of the early Keralites started to make a living by brewing and selling tea to shopkeepers. The enterprising people they were, within four to five years they had set up four or five hotels. They also did business in betel leaves.

Notes
Strangely the house goat kept for its milk is termed a Malabari species goat in Pakistan!

The Bajaur district of the Afghan Pakistan border has a village called Kerala near Chagha Serai! The brutal massacre at Kerala was one reason for strong tribal & Afghanistan’s anti Soviet sentiment.

Razi a Pakistani says - Back in my days in Karachi we used to frequent this place called Bombay Paradise on Jehangir Road. Basically (it was an) a Malabari restaurant with awesome Chai with Paratha. We used to go there a lot when playing night cricket tournaments. Rumor was that that hotel had never shut down since it had opened.


Other References
From Kerala to Islamabad
The nowhere people – Rediff
Exiles in their homeland – Countercurrents
Malabar betel leaves in Pakistan