ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the experiences of Biharis living in Orangi Town – a vast neighbourhood in the northwestern part of Karachi, Pakistan. It focuses upon the subjective-affective meanings attached to belonging and neighbourliness, through the past memories and everyday lives of the Biharis. It places emphasis on the manner in which the Biharis of Orangi Town make sense of socio-spatial as well as the sociopolitical transformations in Karachi in relation to their migration, (re)building lives, and sense of belonging to Pakistan. By deconstructing the Bihari identity and providing the context in which the Biharis migrated from Bihar, India to Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) and then to Karachi, this chapter seeks to throw light on the struggles of this often under-represented subsection of the Muhajir community of Pakistan. It shows how the sense of belonging that the Biharis feel towards their neighbourhood is enmeshed with violence and discrimination vis-à-vis the other ethnic communities in Pakistan as well as the failure of the Pakistani state to provide basic amenities to a section of its population it simply refuses to even acknowledge. By giving voice to this marginalised community, this chapter hopes to expand the discussion on the subjective-affective experiences of post-Partition migrants such as the Biharis in future scholarship.
