In March 2007, I visited Laar town and met many persons from the scavenger community. Many of the sweepers who came and narrated their plight had not got their salaries since the appointment in the Nagar Palika. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then chief minister was on a spree to announce various schemes and one of them was 'jobs' 'reserved' of sweepers for the Valmikis or scavenger community. In the eastern Uttar-Pradesh, they do not use the term Balmikis/Valmiks for the sweeper. Instead there are people from the communities of Rawats, Bansfors, Helas, Mehtars who are engaged in scavenging work. Many of the women narrated their plight and how they wish to get out of the scavenging hell.
A report was submitted to National Human Rights Commission and after which the commission, it seems, issued notices to the state government. We realized that after it the municipal authorities approached the Sweepers and those who were engaged in scavenging to leave their work otherwise face severe consequences in the form of dismissal or jail. It was like the victims themselves were being victimized for the century old exploitation they faced without any dilution.
Pain of contract workers
That time too, all those working on contract had not got their salaries for seven months. Those who joined the municipality in the hope it would ultimately relieve them from indignity of manual scavenging later felt betrayed, for they not only lost their earlier work but now had no chance to go another work.
To find out what was the latest happening there, I visited Laar last month to find out the condition of the people and their depressing condition. As being reported here that manual scavenging is still going despite the denial by Nagar Palika. In fact, we have not only recorded the entire event in video but also got affidavit from the families and large part of text is being produced here. It is unfortunate that all the government's measures to eliminate scavenging are half hearted and lack sincerity and conviction. That time too our investigations revealed how the Swachchakar Vimukti programme has failed and gone in the hand of middlemen. The officers have got a new tool to exploit people.
It is unfortunate that the Safai Karmcharis had to resort to strike for their legitimate right just a few days ago, which ended after administration's highhandedness and duplicity. The administration played its dubious role. One month salary was paid last month but ultimately till date it has now been informed that over 8 months salary is still due and the Nagar Palika has done very little to repair the damage. Instead, the Safai Karmcharis were threatened and we are informed Rs 500/- was given to each of the karmcharis to keep away from striking further. A small penny therefore divided the community, which has lost all hope.
What will happen to a community, which does not get its legitimate amount even when that is much below the 'normal limit' of decency? Why are the safai karmcharis at the receiving end at each nagar palikas. When the work on contract was publicized by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, in many municipalities we received complaint or even appreciation that even the backward and upper castes were applying for sweeper's job. It has now been revealed that all these OBCs or Upper castes, working in municipalities in the name of sweeper do not really mix up with the sweeper community and some of them are benami sweepers. When the sweeper community does not get paid up salary for over 7 months, it reverse back to scavenging, a profession that government and nagar-palikas claims to have vanished. In Laar and other towns and villages of India, it is still prevalent and we have not only recorded evidence but also people on affidavit claiming they are engaged in the work.
Back to scavenging
In the Laar town the Mehtar community is still carrying the nightsoil. Around 10 women are still involved in the work. The national Scavenger Liberation Scheme has failed because of malfunctioning and corruption in the scheme, which never reach the poor. These 10 women are doing the manual scavenging work in nearly 110 houses.
As you may be aware of the fact that Social Development Foundation had earlier also given a report regarding Laar but so far we do not know what action has been taken. We have been given the impression by the scavenger community that after the report was send by NHRC, the Nagar Palika official went to the locality and threatened those who were allegedly involved in the scavenging work.
Rehabilitation of scavenger should be the utmost priority of the government but elimination of scavenging cannot be done by half hearted publicity measures, which the authorities are involved in. It will require lot of commitment and sincerity on part of bureaucracy and the officers. Unfortunately, that seems to be lacking in most of the towns in Uttar-Pradesh. If removal of scavenging is forcefully prohibited without providing an amicable and dignified solution, then we are afraid the situation would go out of control.
The municipality officials not only threatened the husbands of the women involved in scavenging but also did not give them any other opportunity of survival with dignity. No action is normally taken against the municipalities who have failed with the compliance. Women are not being given any job opportunity by the Nagar Palikas resulting in their returning to old profession. Further, none of those who are working with the municipality have got any salary for the past seven months. We are still amused as why the authorities find it difficult to pay to those who keep their cities clean. It is said that the government is providing an alternative to scavenging in the form of providing employment to those who are involved in scavenging. Yet, as our report suggest, women have got no employment as well as those who got appointment on contract basis have not got any salary for the past seven month. The result is that their wives have started returning to their traditional occupation. The condition of the scavenger community is a matter of grave concern but our governments and civil society organizations have failed to respond to the issue. They are virtually suffering in indignity and humiliation. On the one hand the municipal officials threaten them with dire consequences, on the other side, there is no way they will get a job. It is a usual phenomena in Uttar-Pradesh that the Safai-Karmcharis never get their salary on time. Normally it takes six months to get their salaries. Government expects them to be rehabilitated. Their children do not get opportunity to sit with upper caste students. The women folks later resort to manual scavenging because it help them get not only a peanut for their survival but mainly they are able to get loans for local people for running their families.
According to report appeared in local newspaper Dainik Jagaran that 46 people were charged under this. For the financial year 2006-2007 about Rs 58 lakh came to the municipality but only Rs 9 lakh were used. No one knows about other Rs 49 lakh. More than 110 houses have still dry latrines. In January, it was reported that FIR was lodged against 17 persons. In March 2006, DUDA has lodged FIR against 29 persons (Dainik Jagaran, Gorakhpur, September 8 th, 2007).
Work without payment
In his affidavit Krishna s/o Vishwnath said that he was given appointment on contract by the Laar Nagarpalika. But more than 7 months have passed and yet they have got no salary. Whenever she tried to contact the chairman of the Nagar Panchayat, he has been thrown away and is being threatened of being dismissal from the job. It is very difficult to run the family on credit. In the absence of no salary for the past seven months, his family and children are suffering in indignity, hunger and depression.
Sadabriksha has three children who do not go to school. For seven months of work, he was unable to get any salary. They go early morning at six and return at 10. Again for the day shift they go at 2.00 pm and return at 6 pm.
Gita, wife of Dilip has on record mentioned that she is still doing the manual scavenging work in more than 10 houses of Laar town. Mr Bakhsi in the Nagar Panchayat is forcing us to leave this work and got her signed at a blank paper. She was promised work under contract in Nagar Palika but never got it. However, her husband is a sweeper on contract in the Nagar-Palika and have got no salary for the past seven months. How do the government expect them to get rid of this vicious circle when they are not interested. Now, Gita claims that the municipality is threatening her husband with dire consequences if she does not leave her work.
Basanti wife of Krishna charged the municipality of threatening her to leave the manual scavenging work. ' I was promised work on contract but till date, I have got nothing. My husband was given work on contract and now it is over 7 month that we are without any money. I cannot open a shop and start selling things. One we do not have the money and second no body would buy any product from us. When people keep away distances from us how are they going to accept us other than sweeping and cleaning. But we are ready to any other work if alternative is given. Though I have left the work but what is the option. How do my children go to school in the absence of any income, she said.
Kanhaiya is a sweeper on contract at the Nagar Palika but because of non-payment of salaries his condition is worsening. He is a student of 12 th standard but unfortunately he got no work. He is married and unable to run his family. Now, even the shopkeepers do not give us things on credit.
Subhawati wife of Ram Pyare is engaged in the manual scavenging work in nearly 15 houses in Laar. She charge municipal corporations officer Mr Bakhsi for taking her signature in plain paper under the pretext that she would get work. So far she has got nothing. Instead she is being threatened that her husband would be dismissed. 'My husband is working in the municipality on contract yet nothing has been paid to him in the past seven months. Now the government says that you leave manual scavenging but what is it giving to us for our survival', she said.
Gaura Devi wife of Bechu works in 10-15 houses. She gets rupees 10 per months for her work, which cannot survive her along with her three children. Unfortunately, because of the economy of indebtedness has an important role in the community's inability to get out of the profession. Nowhere the municipalities are known to be paying salaries to sweepers on time. Most of the time they get their salaries after six to seven months. Therefore the women folks have to resort to manual scavenging as they remain in the good books of the upper castes and can extract some cash credit in the time of emergency.
Vidyawati w/o Harinder is also engaged in six to seven homes. She has the same argument that when the government does not provide them anything, how can they leave the work. Nagar Palika has promised them work but so far nothing has materialized.
Sushila Devi w/o Ramchander said that she was called by the municipality for a job but later denied me a job because my son got a job in the municipality. It is difficult to run the family and in the absence of salaried paid for over seven months. Now, we are in difficult condition as our children are virtually starving. Who will think of sending them to schools? I will have to resort to manual scavenging again to get food on credit to run my family says, Sushila.
Lilawati Devi has no work. Her husband Om Prakash is also jobless. They have four children and all starving at the moment. Municipal officials asked us to leave this work but provided no alternative. What do we do? After all, we have to work for our livelihood and we do not get anything else.
Kamala Devi wife of Basant was doing work previously but after the municipality promised them work, she left manual scavenging. I was asked to sign on a blank paper and informed that my job has been confirmed. When she went to the municipality she was told to get out. She has big family of 10 people to support and her husband has no work at the moment.
Rajan Kumar is working in the municipality on contract and is depressed at the moment as he can not go to any other job in the absence of non payment of salaries for past seven Months.
Shambhunath is a permanent sweeper in Nagarpalika, working for over 25 years. At the moment he is getting Rs 7000/- per month. He says on the discrimination against his community that he never got promotion in the municipality as a Safai Nayak. Till date not a single person from the Balmiki community has been appointed as supervisor. The other community people who never get involved in sweeping and cleaning are appointed as supervisor. We all clean dirty lanes, Nalis, sever etc but without any mask, globe or shoes. Whenever we tried to ask question regarding our safety, we have been threatened away.
According to Basant, there are number of Safai Karmacharis who can be termed as 'benami'. Many people from upper caste Muslims and backward communities have been appointed in the sweepers job on contract but they never come along with us to clean and sweep the street. They normally do office work and later many of them got promoted as supervisors.
Conclusion: The aim of this write up is to bring to the notice the persistently denigrating conditions of the swachchakar community in various parts of Uttar-Pradesh. We will continue to bring out reports on prevailing situation and where has our governance failed. We would warn the authorities not to go on exploiting our report and torturing the people who are in the profession. Aim is that the authorities should introspect and provide decent employment to people from this community. There should be income generation programme for the community and special school targeted to help the community's new young children. Most importantly municipalities must be penalized for not being able to rehabilitate the community and holding up their salaries for so many months . Special focus should be given to women, as it is they are one hundred percent involved in scavenging. Swachchakar Vimukti Yojana needs to be channalised through Non Governmental Organisations and not through the government officials. All the scavenger women should be provided alternative and decent employment. The Swachchakar community needs special treatment. May be government can fix a quota for the educated youth of Swachchakar community in the jobs other than sweeping and scavenging. That would be the first step from the government side to delink the community from its traditional occupation, a burden it still is carrying on its vast soldiers. It is time we wake up and bring dignity to our work and fellow workers and stop this greatest sin of our time.
The Swachchakar community needs to be liberated from this living hell at the moment. Their locality has no water supply. Dirt everywhere and in the absence any proper sewage system, they throw the human excreta in the stale water. I was amazed to find the same women after doing their work washed their hand in the same water they threw the garbage. It needs to be seen how this community is surviving in filth. It reflect of our betrayal to the community that even fifty years after independence we have not been able to modernize our life style and most importantly our thoughts remain completely out of date and racist in nature. That a community is made to clean your dirt and this thing is still happening in India is a shame which we all have ourselves to blame, most importantly the political class for whom they become a 'vote bank'. It is time we get out of this mindset, involve ourselves in the national mission of liberation of manual scavengers and the first thing could be penalizing the officials and Nagar Palikas if they do not rehabilitate the community and exploit them.
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
(P.S: Copies of affidavits of some of the swachchakars from Laar town are being send to National Human Rights Commission, National Scheduled Caste Commission as well as Chief Minister of Uttar-Pradesh, along with our previous report and list of people.)
Showing posts with label Matters of Dalits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matters of Dalits. Show all posts
Friday, 26 October 2007
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Land after thirty years of 'entitlement'
Story of Land Reclamation of Dalits in village Rupchandrapur
Mutuna's face was expressionless even after the greatest event of her life when she entered her field of one acre for the first time after 1976 when her husband Furtidin was given land entitlement by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. She never knew about the place as since then they tried to occupy their land but the powerful neighbors wont allow them to map. In fact, Mutuna's issue reflect the dilemma of India's farmers movement which not only remained caged in tainted caste structure of the powerful upper castes but highly violent also. On August 11 th August, 2007 when I witnessed the whole thing, many memories of the past reminded me how the land issue would always remain violent and volatile as it affect the local power equations, unite the oppressed and give them dignity and self respect. It also shows how the powerful communities try to circumvent and subvert the due process of law by delaying and disturbing the entire process.
Ramchandra, eldest son of Furtidin informed me how the local powerful people are still creating hurdle. On the first ay when the land was being measured, I personally asked the women to take control over the land immediately as they would be trapped in saying 'come tomorrow'. Do not wait for another day, I said to them. But the question was that the local Yadava (a powerful farming community of northern India) family which has illegally grabbed that land had maze crop over the land. Now, there was tension in the area as the Dalit families wanted to occupy the land immediately while the Yadava was taking shelter under the maze crop. Immediately, all decided that Yadava must get away with this. The Dalit women asked Yadava family to collect his maze crop or face its destruction. It was an amazing site to see when a powerful exploitative family cutting their crop and behind them were Dalit women leveling the land and making the boundary wall of their portion. It was a great show of how things change if the administration is with you. When the Lekhpals and others in the village were mapping the land, there was deliberate taunting by the upper caste Hindus and the powerful people. Virtually abusing to provoke the Dalits, they would claim that the Dalits are lazy, as they never aspired to get land. ' We have tilled this land, made this concrete to a workable land, said a local Thakur. But when the land at the Yadava family's backyard was being measured, the issues, which often comes was that right now there was a maze crop and it would not be good to destroy the crop. This time, the Dalits knew it very well that such pretensions of the powerful people in the village in front of the officials results in further complicating the issue.
Ramchandra, migrated to bigger town as a labour has now decided to remain the village and cultivate his land. " I am very happy to look after my land as my two other brothers would remain in cities to earn for themselves but I will help my family and my mother.'
This story is being written over a period of one month. The gap was deliberate. Having worked in deeply crisis driven condition, I know how the official switch their loyalty and the poor has to run from pillar to post for every small thing. Once the initial work was done and the official gone, we all know, power elite will start creating the same hurdle. After all, how many times, we will come and monitor the situation. But this time around, the villagers were determined come what may and their strength were doubled by some of the outstanding workers of Bharatiya Jan Seva Ashram, Badlapur. Ms Renu, the fire brand women leader of the Ashram actually faced some of the toughest questions of her life right from the officials to rural power folks but she remained un-relented. In those trying time, her determination yielded result and now people's control over their land is complete, of course, there are certain problematic areas for which the community, the individuals have decided to go to the court.
Rupchandrapur village, which falls under Badlapur block of district Jaunpur in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh witnessed this historic land acquisition. This village is dominated by the Thakurs, the upper caste Hindus claiming to hail from Kshatriya i.e. warrior clan. It also reflect how 'efficient' our administrative system is which despite legal validity and by its own standard, it does not follow rules of the law. In 1976, the then prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi went for a massive sterilization programme and one of her issues was to give land entitlement to not only Dalits and Muslims but also to those who opt for the sterilization process thus adopting government's family planning programme.
74 people were given land entitlement in 1976 and the land was to be distributed through the village communal land, which is called Gram Panchayat land. These days normally land is illegally occupied by the powerful communities in the villages. Soon, the government fell in 1979 owing to massive protest against Indira Gandhi and the issue of entitlements of the poor Dalits remained unresolved. The new power equations were used by the powerful communities in their favour by forcing the officials not to visit again and provoked them to cancel the measurement under some pretext or other. Every time, an effort was made and equally resisted by the power elite of the village. Every time the Dalits asked for their land, there was complete lack of sensitivity on part of the officials who would give plenty of arguments regarding the status of their land. Government came and go and the situation at the ground remained unaltered.
One of the important factors of Dalit empowerment in India is democracy. Democracy is essentially a number game and the Dalits and other marginalized communities have understood that their number make majority and hence all of them have become politically very mobile and articulate at least in Uttar-Pradesh. In May 2007 the state saw a shift in power and a Dalit woman Maywati became the chief Minister of the state for the record fourth time.
A change in the government in Lucknow has a lot of meaning for Dalits, particularly those women and wage workers who have been denied dignity and human rights. With a Dalit woman at the thrown of Uttar-Pradesh, a new wave of energy entered into the communities. Bhartiya Jan Seva Ashram, Badlapur realized this important change and went for an all out offensive on the issue of possession being given to those who were allotted land. It approached the district authorities and asked them to take action to provide land allotment soon. In fact, this is one of the strategies used by the International land Coalition's partners here and essentially part of SDF/UPLA's land literacy programme to do village mapping, find vacant land and count the rural landless of that area and do issue based advocacy. We have found from our own experiences that issue based advocacy is far better than a generalized form of advocacy which has all ingredients of 'political manipulations and heavy dose of ideologies' and very less for the individuals who suffer from incapacities and victim hood.
We have suggested on many occasions that the organizations must have primary data of the targeted village such as the total number of people, land status, status of landless and homeless people with particularly reference of the communities such as Dalits and tribals. The Community Empowerment Facility ( CEF) programme of BJSA came handy for the same and a team of organization visited the village several time to assess the ground situation and the status of land both in term of illegal gratification as well as community wise landlessness. Once they finished their paper work, it was difficult for the authorities to deny them right as the land was already allotted to 74 Dalit families nearly 31 years back. Government machinery often makes use of the ignorance of the village people. By ignorance they mean that villagers are not 'techno savvy and do not have relevant documents. Officials are very particular about data and documents which the poor villagers do not have.
I was fortunate enough to witness this historical event when people really got land in their hand. A team of 10 land revenue officials ( Lekhpals), Revenue officer, Sub Disctrict Magistrate ( SDM) went to the village and promised the people that the land would be handed over to them. The local power community was also equally vehement in opposing but differences started coming to the fore. The head of the village Mr Shiv Naraian Singh came out openly with the Dalits and said that he would do everything to get these people land. Shiv Narian was elected Sarpanch with a large number of Dalit votes. The opposition was powerful. They questioned the motives of people getting land. A local politician who could not win a single election actually tried every attempt to thwart the land redistribution effort. Upper castes always wanted to get the Patta cancelled. There were several efforts made to redistribute the land but every time the powerful people in the village created some short of issues which ultimately restricted the authorities to go further on this issue.
Ram Bali is father of 9 children. I acre was allotted to him in 1976. Every time they went to the officers, nothing happened. There were efforts made in the past thrice to measure the land but was met with stiff resistance. The upper castes and particularly one powerful family which had controlled the entire area actually planted trees in the hope that after such a thing happen they would have unquestioned control over the land. When the pressure from the Dalits became tremendous the upper castes resorted to blackmailing. This land is now gone to the forest department. We have planted trees and we will not allow you to uproot these trees. So one can understand the kind of pulls and pressures happens in the village when the land is actually handed over the rural poor. Rambali is a happy man that finally he has got justice and that his family would be able to eat his two-time meal. We are ready to work harder to make the land workable.
Mutuna, wife of late Furtidin whose one acre land was actually being tilled by a Yadava family was satisfied that finally she has got her land. She has three sons and now she hope that the land would be sufficient enough to keep the family going.
Temmal got allotment for one acre. Every time efforts were made to give control of land to them these people try to create obstacles. They would abuse us and would not allow us to have safe passage. They have control over the work. We do not even get work under the NREGA programme.
Village Sarpanch Shiv Narian Singh, though is a upper caste Thakur yet seems to reconcile with working for the rights of the Dalits. He says', The allotment were made in 1976 but the government officials are very careless. A total 51 bighas of land was allotted that time but the powerful people of the village are still trying to occupy that land. We want to give the small ponds and other such land to landless people but problems are being created.
The village Lekhpal who actually is the villain in most of the cases says that so far 48 people have been given possession. The lekhpal also speaks like the upper castes that the Dalits normally do not take of possession saying that the land is a barren and useless land. But he threatens that if the Dalits do not take the possession of land this time, he would be forced to dismiss their entitlement.
Dulari Devi has 5 children. She ahs been waiting for this day to come as the upper caste Hindus do not allow her to reach her land. Land is bad in shape. Lot of weed has surrounded it and it would need tremendous will power to make the land working. But the positive side is that the Dalits are now doing work in their land, weeding out the trees and the grass, leveling the land. It will take time but definitely with the enthusiasm, it will not take much effort.
Ram Charan is very happy to get the land after 30 years. He plan to sow Arahar, Tori, and other vegetables.
Sangeeta says that she is a 'Dalit' and landless. She has six other male members as partner in her father in laws land. It is just one 10 th of a bighead very miniscule piece of land. She is not very happy with that. The food situation at her house is understandably very bad.
Munni Lal has two sons and one daughter. Nearly 30 years later he is now taking control of a very bad land which has thorny bushes and lengthy weed. He knows it well that to refuse taking control of an otherwise waste land would mean giving the upper castes a chance to condemn them as if they do not want it. He says, " My allotment letter gives me one acre of land which is to be distributed among the two brothers but we only got 50 decimal. It will take nearly take a month to level the land and make it workable'.
Chandrabhan, a Dalit youth working with Bhartiya Jan Seva Ashram is another happy person today. Born in a landless family, he and his brothers were not even allowed to pass through the area. While he got one acre of land yet again the power people have made mess of the land laws. He has got one fourth of his allotted land as the person who had illegally grabbed the land has manipulated things with revenue officials and done lot of changes in the land map. ' We will fight against this and go to the court to rectify it. They do not have anything to save their face after full support from BJSA and the administration and still they wanted to delay the process after many ifs and buts'. Chandrabhan has a sense of relief, as he is leveling his land and cutting the unwanted bush and weeding them out.
A Dalit woman Sukraji bi is very happy. I feel powerful today she says. ' We will work harder now and definitely grow on our land rather than working at some body else's land. When I ask her about the caste equations and untouchability in the village she says ' the upper castes now know that they can not get in untouchability directly as they would penalized but they do. When they want our votes in elections, they would come here, sit on our charpoys ( cots) and eat with us but once that is over, they refuse to sit with us and do not allow us the same at their place. She is happy that the women will change as a woman and that too from her own community is now heading the State'. How does she feel seeing a Dalit woman with her head high rules the state, I ask. " yes, we are proud that Bahinji ( elder sister, referred to chief minister Mayawati) is a very strong woman. Her elevation to power will definitely help Dalits and women to get their honour and pride.'
While there is absolute truth in Sukraji's statement as here too in Rupchandrapur, it is women like Renu who made it possible that the land is transferred to the Dalits. She along with other women activists ensures that the officials do not play foul under some pretext or others which she had been facing. Some time, the illegal land grabber who was a local leader said that the land is now under forest department as he has planted Babul trees while on other occasion he made other pretensions. Some time it was provocations and abuses while other time threatening them with dire consequences. All this failed under the determined women's group of Bharatiya Jan Seva Ashram. They now plan to speak to district authorities to grant some funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to the Dalits of Rupchandrapur to level their land and make it cultivable.
The change in power equations have shown their first result though in a small way in Rupchandrapur where the 74 Dalits are now enjoying their land, though with much difficulty of crude exploitative social system which remain shameless even in these times of democracy yet it shows that officials if work persistently and honestly can really do the needful for the power. It is hard to believe that they would change over night but strong signals from the power structure can change their attitude towards rural poor. Another important point for the rural poor is to grab the opportunity of whatever comes in their hand and continue their fight for the rest as snatching land from the hands of then power elite is very difficult as they have not only administration and political leadership with them but also make use of laws. It is advisable to continue our fight and make use of whatever comes in our hand to make our way to the land we have waited for so long. Land is not only matter of laws but a matter of attitude of the law makers and law implementing agencies and sooner they learn it the better it would be for the people. Rupchandrapur is a great lesson for us in this regard.
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Mutuna's face was expressionless even after the greatest event of her life when she entered her field of one acre for the first time after 1976 when her husband Furtidin was given land entitlement by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. She never knew about the place as since then they tried to occupy their land but the powerful neighbors wont allow them to map. In fact, Mutuna's issue reflect the dilemma of India's farmers movement which not only remained caged in tainted caste structure of the powerful upper castes but highly violent also. On August 11 th August, 2007 when I witnessed the whole thing, many memories of the past reminded me how the land issue would always remain violent and volatile as it affect the local power equations, unite the oppressed and give them dignity and self respect. It also shows how the powerful communities try to circumvent and subvert the due process of law by delaying and disturbing the entire process.
Ramchandra, eldest son of Furtidin informed me how the local powerful people are still creating hurdle. On the first ay when the land was being measured, I personally asked the women to take control over the land immediately as they would be trapped in saying 'come tomorrow'. Do not wait for another day, I said to them. But the question was that the local Yadava (a powerful farming community of northern India) family which has illegally grabbed that land had maze crop over the land. Now, there was tension in the area as the Dalit families wanted to occupy the land immediately while the Yadava was taking shelter under the maze crop. Immediately, all decided that Yadava must get away with this. The Dalit women asked Yadava family to collect his maze crop or face its destruction. It was an amazing site to see when a powerful exploitative family cutting their crop and behind them were Dalit women leveling the land and making the boundary wall of their portion. It was a great show of how things change if the administration is with you. When the Lekhpals and others in the village were mapping the land, there was deliberate taunting by the upper caste Hindus and the powerful people. Virtually abusing to provoke the Dalits, they would claim that the Dalits are lazy, as they never aspired to get land. ' We have tilled this land, made this concrete to a workable land, said a local Thakur. But when the land at the Yadava family's backyard was being measured, the issues, which often comes was that right now there was a maze crop and it would not be good to destroy the crop. This time, the Dalits knew it very well that such pretensions of the powerful people in the village in front of the officials results in further complicating the issue.
Ramchandra, migrated to bigger town as a labour has now decided to remain the village and cultivate his land. " I am very happy to look after my land as my two other brothers would remain in cities to earn for themselves but I will help my family and my mother.'
This story is being written over a period of one month. The gap was deliberate. Having worked in deeply crisis driven condition, I know how the official switch their loyalty and the poor has to run from pillar to post for every small thing. Once the initial work was done and the official gone, we all know, power elite will start creating the same hurdle. After all, how many times, we will come and monitor the situation. But this time around, the villagers were determined come what may and their strength were doubled by some of the outstanding workers of Bharatiya Jan Seva Ashram, Badlapur. Ms Renu, the fire brand women leader of the Ashram actually faced some of the toughest questions of her life right from the officials to rural power folks but she remained un-relented. In those trying time, her determination yielded result and now people's control over their land is complete, of course, there are certain problematic areas for which the community, the individuals have decided to go to the court.
Rupchandrapur village, which falls under Badlapur block of district Jaunpur in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh witnessed this historic land acquisition. This village is dominated by the Thakurs, the upper caste Hindus claiming to hail from Kshatriya i.e. warrior clan. It also reflect how 'efficient' our administrative system is which despite legal validity and by its own standard, it does not follow rules of the law. In 1976, the then prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi went for a massive sterilization programme and one of her issues was to give land entitlement to not only Dalits and Muslims but also to those who opt for the sterilization process thus adopting government's family planning programme.
74 people were given land entitlement in 1976 and the land was to be distributed through the village communal land, which is called Gram Panchayat land. These days normally land is illegally occupied by the powerful communities in the villages. Soon, the government fell in 1979 owing to massive protest against Indira Gandhi and the issue of entitlements of the poor Dalits remained unresolved. The new power equations were used by the powerful communities in their favour by forcing the officials not to visit again and provoked them to cancel the measurement under some pretext or other. Every time, an effort was made and equally resisted by the power elite of the village. Every time the Dalits asked for their land, there was complete lack of sensitivity on part of the officials who would give plenty of arguments regarding the status of their land. Government came and go and the situation at the ground remained unaltered.
One of the important factors of Dalit empowerment in India is democracy. Democracy is essentially a number game and the Dalits and other marginalized communities have understood that their number make majority and hence all of them have become politically very mobile and articulate at least in Uttar-Pradesh. In May 2007 the state saw a shift in power and a Dalit woman Maywati became the chief Minister of the state for the record fourth time.
A change in the government in Lucknow has a lot of meaning for Dalits, particularly those women and wage workers who have been denied dignity and human rights. With a Dalit woman at the thrown of Uttar-Pradesh, a new wave of energy entered into the communities. Bhartiya Jan Seva Ashram, Badlapur realized this important change and went for an all out offensive on the issue of possession being given to those who were allotted land. It approached the district authorities and asked them to take action to provide land allotment soon. In fact, this is one of the strategies used by the International land Coalition's partners here and essentially part of SDF/UPLA's land literacy programme to do village mapping, find vacant land and count the rural landless of that area and do issue based advocacy. We have found from our own experiences that issue based advocacy is far better than a generalized form of advocacy which has all ingredients of 'political manipulations and heavy dose of ideologies' and very less for the individuals who suffer from incapacities and victim hood.
We have suggested on many occasions that the organizations must have primary data of the targeted village such as the total number of people, land status, status of landless and homeless people with particularly reference of the communities such as Dalits and tribals. The Community Empowerment Facility ( CEF) programme of BJSA came handy for the same and a team of organization visited the village several time to assess the ground situation and the status of land both in term of illegal gratification as well as community wise landlessness. Once they finished their paper work, it was difficult for the authorities to deny them right as the land was already allotted to 74 Dalit families nearly 31 years back. Government machinery often makes use of the ignorance of the village people. By ignorance they mean that villagers are not 'techno savvy and do not have relevant documents. Officials are very particular about data and documents which the poor villagers do not have.
I was fortunate enough to witness this historical event when people really got land in their hand. A team of 10 land revenue officials ( Lekhpals), Revenue officer, Sub Disctrict Magistrate ( SDM) went to the village and promised the people that the land would be handed over to them. The local power community was also equally vehement in opposing but differences started coming to the fore. The head of the village Mr Shiv Naraian Singh came out openly with the Dalits and said that he would do everything to get these people land. Shiv Narian was elected Sarpanch with a large number of Dalit votes. The opposition was powerful. They questioned the motives of people getting land. A local politician who could not win a single election actually tried every attempt to thwart the land redistribution effort. Upper castes always wanted to get the Patta cancelled. There were several efforts made to redistribute the land but every time the powerful people in the village created some short of issues which ultimately restricted the authorities to go further on this issue.
Ram Bali is father of 9 children. I acre was allotted to him in 1976. Every time they went to the officers, nothing happened. There were efforts made in the past thrice to measure the land but was met with stiff resistance. The upper castes and particularly one powerful family which had controlled the entire area actually planted trees in the hope that after such a thing happen they would have unquestioned control over the land. When the pressure from the Dalits became tremendous the upper castes resorted to blackmailing. This land is now gone to the forest department. We have planted trees and we will not allow you to uproot these trees. So one can understand the kind of pulls and pressures happens in the village when the land is actually handed over the rural poor. Rambali is a happy man that finally he has got justice and that his family would be able to eat his two-time meal. We are ready to work harder to make the land workable.
Mutuna, wife of late Furtidin whose one acre land was actually being tilled by a Yadava family was satisfied that finally she has got her land. She has three sons and now she hope that the land would be sufficient enough to keep the family going.
Temmal got allotment for one acre. Every time efforts were made to give control of land to them these people try to create obstacles. They would abuse us and would not allow us to have safe passage. They have control over the work. We do not even get work under the NREGA programme.
Village Sarpanch Shiv Narian Singh, though is a upper caste Thakur yet seems to reconcile with working for the rights of the Dalits. He says', The allotment were made in 1976 but the government officials are very careless. A total 51 bighas of land was allotted that time but the powerful people of the village are still trying to occupy that land. We want to give the small ponds and other such land to landless people but problems are being created.
The village Lekhpal who actually is the villain in most of the cases says that so far 48 people have been given possession. The lekhpal also speaks like the upper castes that the Dalits normally do not take of possession saying that the land is a barren and useless land. But he threatens that if the Dalits do not take the possession of land this time, he would be forced to dismiss their entitlement.
Dulari Devi has 5 children. She ahs been waiting for this day to come as the upper caste Hindus do not allow her to reach her land. Land is bad in shape. Lot of weed has surrounded it and it would need tremendous will power to make the land working. But the positive side is that the Dalits are now doing work in their land, weeding out the trees and the grass, leveling the land. It will take time but definitely with the enthusiasm, it will not take much effort.
Ram Charan is very happy to get the land after 30 years. He plan to sow Arahar, Tori, and other vegetables.
Sangeeta says that she is a 'Dalit' and landless. She has six other male members as partner in her father in laws land. It is just one 10 th of a bighead very miniscule piece of land. She is not very happy with that. The food situation at her house is understandably very bad.
Munni Lal has two sons and one daughter. Nearly 30 years later he is now taking control of a very bad land which has thorny bushes and lengthy weed. He knows it well that to refuse taking control of an otherwise waste land would mean giving the upper castes a chance to condemn them as if they do not want it. He says, " My allotment letter gives me one acre of land which is to be distributed among the two brothers but we only got 50 decimal. It will take nearly take a month to level the land and make it workable'.
Chandrabhan, a Dalit youth working with Bhartiya Jan Seva Ashram is another happy person today. Born in a landless family, he and his brothers were not even allowed to pass through the area. While he got one acre of land yet again the power people have made mess of the land laws. He has got one fourth of his allotted land as the person who had illegally grabbed the land has manipulated things with revenue officials and done lot of changes in the land map. ' We will fight against this and go to the court to rectify it. They do not have anything to save their face after full support from BJSA and the administration and still they wanted to delay the process after many ifs and buts'. Chandrabhan has a sense of relief, as he is leveling his land and cutting the unwanted bush and weeding them out.
A Dalit woman Sukraji bi is very happy. I feel powerful today she says. ' We will work harder now and definitely grow on our land rather than working at some body else's land. When I ask her about the caste equations and untouchability in the village she says ' the upper castes now know that they can not get in untouchability directly as they would penalized but they do. When they want our votes in elections, they would come here, sit on our charpoys ( cots) and eat with us but once that is over, they refuse to sit with us and do not allow us the same at their place. She is happy that the women will change as a woman and that too from her own community is now heading the State'. How does she feel seeing a Dalit woman with her head high rules the state, I ask. " yes, we are proud that Bahinji ( elder sister, referred to chief minister Mayawati) is a very strong woman. Her elevation to power will definitely help Dalits and women to get their honour and pride.'
While there is absolute truth in Sukraji's statement as here too in Rupchandrapur, it is women like Renu who made it possible that the land is transferred to the Dalits. She along with other women activists ensures that the officials do not play foul under some pretext or others which she had been facing. Some time, the illegal land grabber who was a local leader said that the land is now under forest department as he has planted Babul trees while on other occasion he made other pretensions. Some time it was provocations and abuses while other time threatening them with dire consequences. All this failed under the determined women's group of Bharatiya Jan Seva Ashram. They now plan to speak to district authorities to grant some funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to the Dalits of Rupchandrapur to level their land and make it cultivable.
The change in power equations have shown their first result though in a small way in Rupchandrapur where the 74 Dalits are now enjoying their land, though with much difficulty of crude exploitative social system which remain shameless even in these times of democracy yet it shows that officials if work persistently and honestly can really do the needful for the power. It is hard to believe that they would change over night but strong signals from the power structure can change their attitude towards rural poor. Another important point for the rural poor is to grab the opportunity of whatever comes in their hand and continue their fight for the rest as snatching land from the hands of then power elite is very difficult as they have not only administration and political leadership with them but also make use of laws. It is advisable to continue our fight and make use of whatever comes in our hand to make our way to the land we have waited for so long. Land is not only matter of laws but a matter of attitude of the law makers and law implementing agencies and sooner they learn it the better it would be for the people. Rupchandrapur is a great lesson for us in this regard.
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Friday, 13 July 2007
Doctor's bribe not paid; Dalit woman gave birth under tree
Jagatsinghpur (Orissa in India),
Doctor refused attention insistant on his bribe, a poor dalit woman gave birth to a child under a tree in Orissa in India on 10th of July।
The shocking incident took place near the government hospital in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district, around 100 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa on Tuesday. It came to light on Wedneday after the women's husband lodged a police complaint against the doctor. Ranju Sethi, 23, was the woman came from Jhimani village to the Community Health Centre at Kujang town with her husband after she started experiencing labour pains.
Abhaya Kumar Dash, a doctor at the centre, demanded Rs.2,000 to admit the woman to the hospital, but the poor family failed to pay that fees."When I expressed my inability to pay the amount the doctor abused us and refused to admit my wife in the hospital," woman's husband Gandhrab Sethi said to the police. "Finally my wife could not bear the labour pain and delivered a baby under a tree outside the hospital," he continued. "It is government-run Comunity Health Center and doctor gets a good figure as salary from the government. So we never not he would ask bribe from the poor dalit villager like me," Gandhrab Sethi told to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service. Dr. Abhaya Kumar Dash Dash fled the scene after some 200 locals demanded action.
Dr Binod Kumar Mishra, the Superintendent of the hospital said that they are investigating the case and a report will be submitted to the chief district medical officer within two days.
://salemvoice.org/news200.html
Doctor refused attention insistant on his bribe, a poor dalit woman gave birth to a child under a tree in Orissa in India on 10th of July।
The shocking incident took place near the government hospital in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district, around 100 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa on Tuesday. It came to light on Wedneday after the women's husband lodged a police complaint against the doctor. Ranju Sethi, 23, was the woman came from Jhimani village to the Community Health Centre at Kujang town with her husband after she started experiencing labour pains.
Abhaya Kumar Dash, a doctor at the centre, demanded Rs.2,000 to admit the woman to the hospital, but the poor family failed to pay that fees."When I expressed my inability to pay the amount the doctor abused us and refused to admit my wife in the hospital," woman's husband Gandhrab Sethi said to the police. "Finally my wife could not bear the labour pain and delivered a baby under a tree outside the hospital," he continued. "It is government-run Comunity Health Center and doctor gets a good figure as salary from the government. So we never not he would ask bribe from the poor dalit villager like me," Gandhrab Sethi told to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service. Dr. Abhaya Kumar Dash Dash fled the scene after some 200 locals demanded action.
Dr Binod Kumar Mishra, the Superintendent of the hospital said that they are investigating the case and a report will be submitted to the chief district medical officer within two days.
://salemvoice.org/news200.html
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Harsud; three years hence but saga of the sufferings, never ends ..
The story of sufferings of people of Harsud, one of the 250 villages in the State of Madhya Pradesh which got submerged due to Indira Sagar Dam project, is unending and probably this millenniums most inhumane and undemocratic displacement story. June 30 2007, it will three years hence when the people of Harsud were 'displaced by force' not by will. Till date many of them wait for adequate compensation. Many are unemployed and striving hard to earn their sustenance. Probably their lives have got stuck in the 'files' in 'corridors of powers' of the State Government. The state of affairs is such that out of 5600 families which were resettled in the new Harsud only 1600 families still remain. Fifty families are dalits. Where have the rest gone? Nobody knows. What happened to the children, their education, and health no one has a clue in the State?
Who matters for the state in present situation? If 100 medical students or doctors march on the roads of New Delhi, then Parliament, Media, Corporate starts jumping, but 6000 tribals sitting on Dharna in Bhopal under heavy rains for demanding their fundamental right does not matter for the Government. The Political and State leadership did not go to meet these people at all.
The Harsud got submerged in June 2004. This historic town was established in the year 1815 by the then King Harshvardhan. Before it got submerged it was a Tehsil which was surrounded by villages. People settled here, had means of employment be it their own business, or labour or farming but after their displaced after submergence, they live on state's false promises, with a hope it they may get fulfilled someday.
It may be difficult to locate a town similar to new Harsud in Madhya Pradesh wherein people have built in pucca houses but hardly have anything to eat. All the money they had, they had spent on constructing their homes. Uma Bharti, who was then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had announced that new Harsud will be 'an ideal town', with all the facilities. But reality is far from grim. The land here was made up of hard rocks and it was extremely difficult to construct houses on the same. It took huge effort to dig the rocky land for the foundation which was needed to build the house over it. People had to spend all they had in order to construct their shelter. Builders, cement, sand and construction material dealers minted money, to an extent that prices of building material shot up. Iron rods which are normally priced at Rs 2300 per quintal, were sold at Rs 4000 per quintal while sand which is normally priced at Rs 1000 ? 1500 was sold at double the price. All the money they had received as compensation was spent only in constructing houses.
It was painful to see one's own houses getting submerged while they were forced to settle on these barren hard rocky plains. Today, they have a pucca house but only that nothing else. State was able to convince the judiciary that, they have been able to rehabilitate the displaced people. Photographs of the pucca houses were good evidence in the court.
Present revenue records of the state will tell you that new Harsud is developing progressively. But the reality is exactly opposite and grim. Economy and employment are correlated when people have no means of employment how can an economy flourish. New harsud contrary to old one does not have any bus stand, no vegetable wholesale market, and neither any bank which can help the people get loan i.e. nothing which can give the people any employment opportunity. In name of development concrete gutters, damaged roads, there is nothing much.
Dr Ashok Srivastava, a valiant fighter, fighting for rights of those who got displaced say that concrete roads and sewage lines are there as state wanted to show the court that development has been done. But then what? "Old Harsud was a complete economic zone in itself, it had a big wholesale market for farmers, about 200 villages used to cater to the same and almost everyone had a job. But it is exactly the opposite in new Harsud. Except concrete sewage lies, houses and government offices there is nothing. Arundhati Roy, a famous writer had said at the time when Harsud was getting submerged what kind of development is that wherein the name of progress human rights of one's own nation's people get violated.
Though Harsud is the latest example, but in name of progress, in our country after independence more than three crore people have been displaced from their own land and their own culture. All democratic methods of raising concern seem not to deter the state of Madhya Pradesh and NHDC, the company which is building these dams.
Narmada Bachho Andolan's Alok Agarwal shares that people in new harsud have not been given property rights of the land which is allotted to them, meaning that they cannot get any loan on the same. He adds that crime rate has been increasing in last three years. People do not have employment, poverty is rampant and people don't have anything to survive, hence crime rates have increased. It is not that only poor have got affected, even better off families are facing the impact but fact is that poor have the maximum brunt. Even the traders like Trilok Tripathi say that sales have come down as people don't have buying power.
Who will listen to Dalits ?
In the new harsud sector 7 is called dalit sector. It is here where fifty dalit families live in. Children are taking of their school bags and instead they have picked up shovels. Rahul, was studying in tenth class when harsud got submerged but now he has hanged his school bag. More than studies it was essential to get food for his family. Santosh who works as a laborer in harsud and is feeding his family recalls at in old harsud we never had a time when we had had to starve, as their was work at the agricultural farms, and we used to get some work always. But now neither we have any farming nor is there any work for us. We are just surviving, but when rains come we will not have any way of earning our livelihood.
Where is Employment Guarantee Scheme?
This new place for the rehabilitated is nothing but a box of problems and is difficult for community members here to manage just two meals a day. In situation like this why is government silent on getting people some work. What is the reason that state has not initiated an employment guarantee scheme here? Local people say that people here had protested strongly against the conditions prevalent here and corruption which was happening, the same had upset many important ministers like Kailash Vijayavarigya, Anoop Mishra, and the local member of legislative assembly Kunwar Vijay Shah. They are facing the brunt of the same protest. The people here are angry wit Jkunawar Vijay Shah who never spoke a single word for the people and against the displacement. That is the reason he was blessed with gift of Cabinet Ministership. Media has less presence here, no political leaders wants to raise his voice for their concern, as they feel that the vote bank here is not big enough to have an impact on elections. Though this year in fist time Municipal Corporation BJP had lost, but it does not see than they have learnt from their loss.
People are still stranded here.
Kalimachak River was a lifeline for harsud town. But after water levels increased in Indira Sagar dam, backwaters of Kalimachak only submerged Harsud. Though harsud now is depilated and is haunted. But still in ward number nine, Mohi rayat about 150 people of thirty tribal families are not willing to move from here. They till date have not received the compensation amount. Mohan Gaindala from these families tell us that as even after fulfilling all the requirements as laid down in the clause 4 as announced by the state government they still have not received the compensation. Among them is Poonam who is suffering from Tuberculosis shares that patwari and other government officials openly ask for bribes. 'If someone cannot enough to eat how can one afford to pay bribe. Mohan adds that we don't know where our compensation money has gone? There are many here who have not received their compensation yet. Either the state government officials or the powerful have eaten away the money which came as compensation for them.
State government officials including the officiating District Collector Sanjay Goyal do not have any answers'. Tribals communities staying here had previously got afflicted with Chickenguniya. In the last monsoon water had reached just near their huts, but there is no surety this time that water will remain till that place. Included in them there are ten such children who never have received polio vaccination anytime or for that matter neither any supplementary nutrition.
What does District Collector say?
Khandwa District Collector Sanjay Goyal who is officiating says that district administration is trying its best. Brushing aside the issue of employment he said that somehow all of us, in any form will have to pay the price of development?
By Daya Shanker Mishra,
( Daya Shankar Mishra Freelance Journalist working as a Media Fellow with Vikas Samvad in Madhya Pradesh. He can be contacted on Vikas Samvad, E-7/226, Ist Floor, Opp. Dhanvantri Complex, Arera Colony, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)
Who matters for the state in present situation? If 100 medical students or doctors march on the roads of New Delhi, then Parliament, Media, Corporate starts jumping, but 6000 tribals sitting on Dharna in Bhopal under heavy rains for demanding their fundamental right does not matter for the Government. The Political and State leadership did not go to meet these people at all.
The Harsud got submerged in June 2004. This historic town was established in the year 1815 by the then King Harshvardhan. Before it got submerged it was a Tehsil which was surrounded by villages. People settled here, had means of employment be it their own business, or labour or farming but after their displaced after submergence, they live on state's false promises, with a hope it they may get fulfilled someday.
It may be difficult to locate a town similar to new Harsud in Madhya Pradesh wherein people have built in pucca houses but hardly have anything to eat. All the money they had, they had spent on constructing their homes. Uma Bharti, who was then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had announced that new Harsud will be 'an ideal town', with all the facilities. But reality is far from grim. The land here was made up of hard rocks and it was extremely difficult to construct houses on the same. It took huge effort to dig the rocky land for the foundation which was needed to build the house over it. People had to spend all they had in order to construct their shelter. Builders, cement, sand and construction material dealers minted money, to an extent that prices of building material shot up. Iron rods which are normally priced at Rs 2300 per quintal, were sold at Rs 4000 per quintal while sand which is normally priced at Rs 1000 ? 1500 was sold at double the price. All the money they had received as compensation was spent only in constructing houses.
It was painful to see one's own houses getting submerged while they were forced to settle on these barren hard rocky plains. Today, they have a pucca house but only that nothing else. State was able to convince the judiciary that, they have been able to rehabilitate the displaced people. Photographs of the pucca houses were good evidence in the court.
Present revenue records of the state will tell you that new Harsud is developing progressively. But the reality is exactly opposite and grim. Economy and employment are correlated when people have no means of employment how can an economy flourish. New harsud contrary to old one does not have any bus stand, no vegetable wholesale market, and neither any bank which can help the people get loan i.e. nothing which can give the people any employment opportunity. In name of development concrete gutters, damaged roads, there is nothing much.
Dr Ashok Srivastava, a valiant fighter, fighting for rights of those who got displaced say that concrete roads and sewage lines are there as state wanted to show the court that development has been done. But then what? "Old Harsud was a complete economic zone in itself, it had a big wholesale market for farmers, about 200 villages used to cater to the same and almost everyone had a job. But it is exactly the opposite in new Harsud. Except concrete sewage lies, houses and government offices there is nothing. Arundhati Roy, a famous writer had said at the time when Harsud was getting submerged what kind of development is that wherein the name of progress human rights of one's own nation's people get violated.
Though Harsud is the latest example, but in name of progress, in our country after independence more than three crore people have been displaced from their own land and their own culture. All democratic methods of raising concern seem not to deter the state of Madhya Pradesh and NHDC, the company which is building these dams.
Narmada Bachho Andolan's Alok Agarwal shares that people in new harsud have not been given property rights of the land which is allotted to them, meaning that they cannot get any loan on the same. He adds that crime rate has been increasing in last three years. People do not have employment, poverty is rampant and people don't have anything to survive, hence crime rates have increased. It is not that only poor have got affected, even better off families are facing the impact but fact is that poor have the maximum brunt. Even the traders like Trilok Tripathi say that sales have come down as people don't have buying power.
Who will listen to Dalits ?
In the new harsud sector 7 is called dalit sector. It is here where fifty dalit families live in. Children are taking of their school bags and instead they have picked up shovels. Rahul, was studying in tenth class when harsud got submerged but now he has hanged his school bag. More than studies it was essential to get food for his family. Santosh who works as a laborer in harsud and is feeding his family recalls at in old harsud we never had a time when we had had to starve, as their was work at the agricultural farms, and we used to get some work always. But now neither we have any farming nor is there any work for us. We are just surviving, but when rains come we will not have any way of earning our livelihood.
Where is Employment Guarantee Scheme?
This new place for the rehabilitated is nothing but a box of problems and is difficult for community members here to manage just two meals a day. In situation like this why is government silent on getting people some work. What is the reason that state has not initiated an employment guarantee scheme here? Local people say that people here had protested strongly against the conditions prevalent here and corruption which was happening, the same had upset many important ministers like Kailash Vijayavarigya, Anoop Mishra, and the local member of legislative assembly Kunwar Vijay Shah. They are facing the brunt of the same protest. The people here are angry wit Jkunawar Vijay Shah who never spoke a single word for the people and against the displacement. That is the reason he was blessed with gift of Cabinet Ministership. Media has less presence here, no political leaders wants to raise his voice for their concern, as they feel that the vote bank here is not big enough to have an impact on elections. Though this year in fist time Municipal Corporation BJP had lost, but it does not see than they have learnt from their loss.
People are still stranded here.
Kalimachak River was a lifeline for harsud town. But after water levels increased in Indira Sagar dam, backwaters of Kalimachak only submerged Harsud. Though harsud now is depilated and is haunted. But still in ward number nine, Mohi rayat about 150 people of thirty tribal families are not willing to move from here. They till date have not received the compensation amount. Mohan Gaindala from these families tell us that as even after fulfilling all the requirements as laid down in the clause 4 as announced by the state government they still have not received the compensation. Among them is Poonam who is suffering from Tuberculosis shares that patwari and other government officials openly ask for bribes. 'If someone cannot enough to eat how can one afford to pay bribe. Mohan adds that we don't know where our compensation money has gone? There are many here who have not received their compensation yet. Either the state government officials or the powerful have eaten away the money which came as compensation for them.
State government officials including the officiating District Collector Sanjay Goyal do not have any answers'. Tribals communities staying here had previously got afflicted with Chickenguniya. In the last monsoon water had reached just near their huts, but there is no surety this time that water will remain till that place. Included in them there are ten such children who never have received polio vaccination anytime or for that matter neither any supplementary nutrition.
What does District Collector say?
Khandwa District Collector Sanjay Goyal who is officiating says that district administration is trying its best. Brushing aside the issue of employment he said that somehow all of us, in any form will have to pay the price of development?
By Daya Shanker Mishra,
( Daya Shankar Mishra Freelance Journalist working as a Media Fellow with Vikas Samvad in Madhya Pradesh. He can be contacted on Vikas Samvad, E-7/226, Ist Floor, Opp. Dhanvantri Complex, Arera Colony, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Muslim Dalits Denied Justice
A number of people are attending a unique marriage ceremony, being held in a public space in a remote village in central Bihar. The bride and the bridegroom move around the fire, a Hindu religious symbol, supervised by a Pandit who recites Vedic mantras. The relatives and friends of the couple are seated around them. As soon as the bride and the bridegroom complete the seventh round of movement of fire, the priest declares, 'Now you are attached with the unbreakable bond of marriage. You are now a couple according to the Hindu religion'.
But shortly after, the situation takes a new turn and the environment changes like a scene from a traditional Indian drama. The same bride and the bridegroom are seated clandestinely in a locked house with only a few near relatives with them, under the supervision of a Qazi, a Muslim priest who is responsible for performing Muslim marriage ceremonies. The Qazi recites some verses of the Quran and then asks the bridegroom in the presence of three witnesses, 'Do you accept this girl as your life partner'? The bridegroom replies, 'Yes, I accept'. The Qazi declares the nikah, the Muslim marriage, to have been completed and the couple to have been legally married under Islamic law.
Is it possible for a person to be follower of Hinduism and Islam at the same time, particularly in such a society like India, where one's religious identity is given such importance? Why did this couple follow the marital rituals of both religions?
In fact, as it emerged, the family of the bride and bridegroom used to be Muslim. However, they found that certain constitutional rights and benefits are reserved by law for Dalits or members of 'low' caste or socially marginalised communities, like themselves, only if they declare themselves officially as Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Hence, in order to be able to access these rights, the couple had a formal Hindu marriage, declaring themselves as 'Hindus'. The head of the family, who is in his early sixties, also changed his Islamic name, and adopted a Hindu name. His wife did so too, after formally declaring herself a Hindu. She keeps pictures of Hindu deities in her sitting room, so that outsiders think of her family as Hindu, which she says she is not. If the officials come to know that she is wrongly claiming to be a Hindu, the family will be denied all Scheduled Caste-related benefits.
A vital question is that if they have declared themselves as 'Hindus', why did they follow the Hindu as well as the Islamic way of marriage? Why did they not follow only the Hindu way, as they had declared themselves 'Hindu'? Why did they follow the Islamic way of marriage clandestinely, whereas they got married the Hindu way in public? I asked this question to Dr Ejaz Ali, head of the All-India Muslim Morcha, a Patna-based organisation working for marginalized Muslims. He explained it as a result of economic compulsion, although, he said, the couple still were emotionally attached to Islam, evidence of which was the fact that they had also married the Muslim way clandestinely. As he put it, "By officially declaring themselves as Hindu Dalits in public, although still retaining their affection for Islam, these poor people can get special constitutional rights to government employment and reservations. But as Muslims they cannot'.
This family belongs to the Nat caste. The Nats are considered to be 'untouchables' by caste Hindus. They are an impoverished nomadic community. Many of them survive through begging. There are both Muslim as well as Hindu Nats. The Nats were traditionally treated as 'untouchables' and so many of them converted to Islam over the centuries, to escape caste oppression and in search of social equality. After embracing Islam, the Muslim Nats changed only marginally, in terms of religious beliefs, but their social, economical as well as educational background remained the same.
As a Muslim, the Nat groom referred to above had been observing various Islamic rituals. But one day he formally declared himself a 'Hindu', because unlike Muslim Nats, Hindu Nats are recognised as a Scheduled Caste by the state and can, accordingly, benefit from various government programmes and schemes, which Muslim Nats are legally denied, simply because of their religion .Hence, the groom's conversion was tactical, not because of any religious reason, but simply in the hope of some economic advancement. The man's wife thinks that the law is iniquitous. 'If our brethren, the Hindu Nats, can get special constitutional rights and on that basis can get employment, then why not fellow Nats who are Muslims?. We are equally, if not more, poor than them', she asserts.
According to a special provision in article 341 of the Indian Constitution, 'untouchable' or Dalit communities, termed as Scheduled Castes (SCs), get several special rights, including reservations in education, employment and membership of Parliament as well as states assemblies. But this special right has been extended to only those who declare themselves to be Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs, while Muslim and Christian Dalits are denied these rights.
As Ejaz Ali argues, "This constitutional provision compels Hindu Dalits not to embrace Islam or Christianity. If they do they would lose the special constitutional rights as well as several other benefits given by the states and the union government." On the other hand, as the case of the Nat couple shows, many Dalits who had historically converted to Islam feel that it is better to declare themselves as Hindus and thereby access special constitutional rights for Scheduled Castes'. As Ali Anwar, a veteran journalist and member of the Rajya Sabha, who has written several books on the socio-economic condition of marginalized Muslims, puts it, "This constitutional provision is a violation of the Constitutional principle of secularism'.
By Irshadul Haque
(Irshadul Haque is a social activist and writer based in Bihar.) irshadulhaque786@googlemail.com
But shortly after, the situation takes a new turn and the environment changes like a scene from a traditional Indian drama. The same bride and the bridegroom are seated clandestinely in a locked house with only a few near relatives with them, under the supervision of a Qazi, a Muslim priest who is responsible for performing Muslim marriage ceremonies. The Qazi recites some verses of the Quran and then asks the bridegroom in the presence of three witnesses, 'Do you accept this girl as your life partner'? The bridegroom replies, 'Yes, I accept'. The Qazi declares the nikah, the Muslim marriage, to have been completed and the couple to have been legally married under Islamic law.
Is it possible for a person to be follower of Hinduism and Islam at the same time, particularly in such a society like India, where one's religious identity is given such importance? Why did this couple follow the marital rituals of both religions?
In fact, as it emerged, the family of the bride and bridegroom used to be Muslim. However, they found that certain constitutional rights and benefits are reserved by law for Dalits or members of 'low' caste or socially marginalised communities, like themselves, only if they declare themselves officially as Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Hence, in order to be able to access these rights, the couple had a formal Hindu marriage, declaring themselves as 'Hindus'. The head of the family, who is in his early sixties, also changed his Islamic name, and adopted a Hindu name. His wife did so too, after formally declaring herself a Hindu. She keeps pictures of Hindu deities in her sitting room, so that outsiders think of her family as Hindu, which she says she is not. If the officials come to know that she is wrongly claiming to be a Hindu, the family will be denied all Scheduled Caste-related benefits.
A vital question is that if they have declared themselves as 'Hindus', why did they follow the Hindu as well as the Islamic way of marriage? Why did they not follow only the Hindu way, as they had declared themselves 'Hindu'? Why did they follow the Islamic way of marriage clandestinely, whereas they got married the Hindu way in public? I asked this question to Dr Ejaz Ali, head of the All-India Muslim Morcha, a Patna-based organisation working for marginalized Muslims. He explained it as a result of economic compulsion, although, he said, the couple still were emotionally attached to Islam, evidence of which was the fact that they had also married the Muslim way clandestinely. As he put it, "By officially declaring themselves as Hindu Dalits in public, although still retaining their affection for Islam, these poor people can get special constitutional rights to government employment and reservations. But as Muslims they cannot'.
This family belongs to the Nat caste. The Nats are considered to be 'untouchables' by caste Hindus. They are an impoverished nomadic community. Many of them survive through begging. There are both Muslim as well as Hindu Nats. The Nats were traditionally treated as 'untouchables' and so many of them converted to Islam over the centuries, to escape caste oppression and in search of social equality. After embracing Islam, the Muslim Nats changed only marginally, in terms of religious beliefs, but their social, economical as well as educational background remained the same.
As a Muslim, the Nat groom referred to above had been observing various Islamic rituals. But one day he formally declared himself a 'Hindu', because unlike Muslim Nats, Hindu Nats are recognised as a Scheduled Caste by the state and can, accordingly, benefit from various government programmes and schemes, which Muslim Nats are legally denied, simply because of their religion .Hence, the groom's conversion was tactical, not because of any religious reason, but simply in the hope of some economic advancement. The man's wife thinks that the law is iniquitous. 'If our brethren, the Hindu Nats, can get special constitutional rights and on that basis can get employment, then why not fellow Nats who are Muslims?. We are equally, if not more, poor than them', she asserts.
According to a special provision in article 341 of the Indian Constitution, 'untouchable' or Dalit communities, termed as Scheduled Castes (SCs), get several special rights, including reservations in education, employment and membership of Parliament as well as states assemblies. But this special right has been extended to only those who declare themselves to be Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs, while Muslim and Christian Dalits are denied these rights.
As Ejaz Ali argues, "This constitutional provision compels Hindu Dalits not to embrace Islam or Christianity. If they do they would lose the special constitutional rights as well as several other benefits given by the states and the union government." On the other hand, as the case of the Nat couple shows, many Dalits who had historically converted to Islam feel that it is better to declare themselves as Hindus and thereby access special constitutional rights for Scheduled Castes'. As Ali Anwar, a veteran journalist and member of the Rajya Sabha, who has written several books on the socio-economic condition of marginalized Muslims, puts it, "This constitutional provision is a violation of the Constitutional principle of secularism'.
By Irshadul Haque
(Irshadul Haque is a social activist and writer based in Bihar.) irshadulhaque786@googlemail.com
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