Maimul: The story of marginality

Title	Maimul: The story of marginality
Author(s)	Yeashir Arafath and Mirza Taslima Sultana
Format
Anticipated length
Synopsis	Maimul is the term widely used to denotes the North-eastern haor centric families of Bangladesh, who are involved in fishing, fish farming, fish trading, and fish drying. During the scoping field visit on dried fish at Sylhet and Sunamganj, we came across the term. The research participants of the dried fish market told us that though the Maimuls are Muslim, they are considered as a lower caste in the society; hence no one generally wants to have a marital relationship with these families. Socially the term Maimul has a derogatory connotation. Over the past two decades, people's perceptions of the Maimul suffix have been transforming slowly due to the economic change of the people involved in dried fish production and trading. This paper aims to unpack the tensions around the identity of Maimul at Sylhet, as well as to grasp the transformation of the identity which is intertwined with the local politics.