Motherland, the second documentary about Tharparkar from Islamabad-based magazine Earthwise, explores how the advent of coal mining has deprived the people of Tharparkar of their land rights. Often coerced into relinquishing their homes and hearths for coal mines, they have lost access to their pastures and farmlands that once guaranteed a self-sufficient way of life.
Many of them have also received little or no compensation even after waging a decade-long legal struggle. This documentary records changes brought about in their lives by coal-related developments. It tells the story of a once prosperous people reduced to pecuniary, feeling imprisoned by their changed circumstances and forced to take up menial jobs.