ludUO

iv
divided its people and still does in both India and Pakistan. Bheel is among the
‘lowest’ and poorest in the hierarchy and mostly comprises farm labourers
Burqa: An outermost garment to shroud the whole female body
Chadar and chardivari: Literally, sheet of cloth and four walls. Associated
with women the phrase signifies that a woman’s place of honour is inside the
four walls of home; and, if she must go out, she has to be wrapped from head
to foot in a sort of winding sheet
Chak: Tiny rural settlement in the Punjab, usually designated just by
number and a letter of the alphabet
Challan: The police’s prosecution brief or charge-sheet. There are two
categories of this: the first is based on a preliminary (first information) report,
and the next, which is more formalised, follows from early investigations
Chapati: Bread made from wheat flour. A staple food item in many parts
of Pakistan.
Chaudhry: Now also a common surname in Punjab, in its original sense it
describes the head of a village’s foremost landed family
Cheera: From the word meaning ‘tearing up’ it is a common method of
third degree torture in which the victim’s legs are spread out to the maximum
and kept immobilised in that position. The agony quickly makes the man ‘admit’
in most cases whatever he is asked to confess by the police
Deeni madrassah or madrassah [Plural in Urdu Madaris]: Literally, a
religious school. At present many of the institutions are run for sectarian and
fundamentalist ends.
Deh: Small village
Dera: Extended residential site of an influential figure in a village or other
area
Diyat: The blood money in return for which the next of kin of a murdered
man may agree to forgive the killer. It is also monetary compensation for any
lesser physical injury caused
Ehtisab: Accountability
Eidul Fitr: Festive occasion which marks the end of the Muslim month of
fasting, Ramazan
Fatwa: Religious edict
Fiqah: Muslim jurisprudence
Gaddi-nashin: Occupier of the usually hereditary seat of custodianship of
a shrine
Gherao: A number of persons’ laying siege to someone superior to pressure
him to listen, and hopefully to yield, to their demands. Literally, to surround
Glossary