Threat to the livelihood of Dalits and tribals in Tarai

‘Tarai main Dalit Adivasi Asmita pe badhata Sankat’
‘Threat to Dalit-Adivasi livelihood in Tarai’

A documentary by Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Language: Hindi
Duration : 35 minutes


Land Rights activists belonging to National Land Alliance went on a Padyatra to highlight the issue of land rights of dalits and tribals in the Tarai region of Uttar-Pradesh and Uttarakhand in December last year. Tarai is a fertile belt on the foothills of Himayalas and consist of districts like Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Lakhimpur Khiri, Pilibhit, Baharaich, Gonda districts of Uttarakhand and Uttar-Pradesh states. The Padyatra started from Golbohji forest village in Palia district of Uttar-Pradesh on December 13th, 2008. After traveling 20-25 kilometer a day, the Padyatra finally culminated at Harinagar village in Kundeswari (kashipur), Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar today on December 28th, 2008. During these 16 days, the marchers did social audits of various villages, addressed village community meetings and talked to students in different colleges and schools. They talked about human rights, humanism and challenge of climate change and threat to our environment. Some of the activists well trained in miracle exposure programmes also displayed their skills in these educational institutions and village Panchayats. During these 16 days, the Padyatris stayed at village Panchayat Bhavans, slept in the tribal areas and visited large part of those villages which are still facing discrimination and exclusion in their daily lives either from social system or from the government departments.

The main reason of this Padyatra was to highlight the importance of land and livelihood issues of the Dalit-tribal communities in tribal region of Uttarakhand and Uttar-Pradesh. Communities such as Tharus, Boxas (a Primitive Tribal Group), Tongiyas is a matter of great concern as they remain isolated and excluded in the general set up of both the states. The condition of these communities is particularly alarming in Uttarakhand because of lack of understanding of Dalit-tribal culture and popular mass support. In the Tarai region the sale-purchase of tribal land is prohibited yet most the tribal land today has been transferred to dominant communities here. The tense peace exist here as these communities are so well oppressed that they find it difficult to explain their conditions to outsider as the goons of the powerful communities and land mafias always spy upon them. Both the Tharus and Boxas are victim of the forest department also and border police also.

In its last leg, the Padyatra reached Harinagar ( Kundeshwari) today. After 16 days and crossing over 350 kilometer of Uttarakhand and Uttar-Pradesh state, the reason of culminating the Padyatra in Harinagar, Kundeswari was to support the demand of over 150 landless Dalit families who have been fighting for their land rights for the past 20 odd years when they were brutally thrown away from the land they had been tilling for many years and which was declared ceiling surplus by the Commissioner of Kumaon, Nainital. Despite favorable verdict from the highest courts of the land, the government of the state did not have the courage to implement the ceiling act there and provide land to these peace loving people who had shown their faith in the constitution of India and did not resort to any unlawful activities. Social Development Foundation has gone to Supreme Court against the empathy of the Uttarakhand government against these people but shockingly the government of the state in a brazenly shameless way suggested that the Dalits do not hail from the district. In the same affidavit the government justify giving land to those Sikhs who were declared encroachers by the Supreme Court and who actually were responsible for excluding and discriminating against the Dalits. We ask the question to the state government as how come these people got land under ceiling act and what was the criteria used for them ?

Now, based on our experiences and fact finding during the Padyatra, we have produced a 35 minute documentary ‘ Tarai main Dalit Adivasi asmita per badhta sankat’ i.e. ‘Threat to Dalit-Adivasi livelihood in Tarai’. The documentary is based on direct interviews with victims who have lost their land to various dominant forces in the region including land mafia, forest department and irrigation department. It gives you a live picture how Tharu, Boxa villages are on the verge of extinction and how the Dalits despite court’s order have not been able to get their legitimate due.

The struggle for social justice continues in this hostile region of India where political parties, social action groups, media have kept conspicuous silence on non implementation of land laws including redistribution of land and implementation of land ceiling act. Our effort is to bring these ugly facts to you so that as activists, jurists, media persons, government officials, political leaders, you would be able to take it further. It is a voluntary effort hence we have not been able to create more CDs. We request your support for it. Those who would be interested can write to me for CDs and DVDs. The contributory price for CD would be Rs 200/- and for DVD Rs 500/-.

We would be screening the documentary at different places including colleges, social action group’s programmes. Friends, who would be interested to organize any event or discussion on issue are welcome and can contact me for the same.

Join UPLA Padyatra for land rights of Tharus

Padyatra : Land, Dignity and Freedom

Participate and support people's initiative for strengthening tribal rights for livelihood

Dear Friends,

The Tarai region of Uttar-Pradesh is bordering with Nepal as well as the state of Uttarakhand is the land of Tharus, Boxas and Tongias. These communities are living in forests for hundred of years but today face threat for dislocation in the name of preseveration of forest and balancing ecological order. What an irnony that the protectors of forests are termed as a threat to forest. Many of the Tharu villages have already been destroyed by the forest officials. A powerful matrilineal community like Tharus are facing severe economic hardship. The culture of Tharuhut is visible in Lakhimpur Khiri, Banbasa, Sitarganj, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar districts of both Uttar-Pradesh and Uttarakhand state. Due to negligence of the state authorities, the Tharus remained on margins and thoroughly isolated. There are no educational instituions in the areas. As most of them live in and around forest villages, the forest departments and its officials use Tharus as a tool to extract money. Adjecent to these areas is famous ' Dhuwa National Park'.

Tharus were owners of the forests. So were Boxas. Very little is known about their culture and history. In this region, the Tharus consider them as legatess of Rana Pratap. Their traditional land remain mortgaged to big land owners, the Sikhs from Punjab who have been responsible for a complete demographic change in the region. The Sikhs were located here by the government during the partition days but over the years the community have used their 'wisdom' to extract land from the illterate and poor tribals, the result is the growth of big and illegal farm houses in the region. Even when the land can not be sold to no tribal in this region, you will find to your utter surprise that Tharus and Boxas have become virtually beggers and slaves in their own land.

Apart from this, Dalit communities in Uttarakhadn state face complete isolation socially as well as politically. The battle for Escorts Farms limited in Kundeshwari reflect that anti Dalit stand of the Uttarakhand government. Despite winning the case in Supreme Court and reprimand by the Lokayukta, the government officials are shamlessly pursuing neo liberal agenda. Out 1167 hectares of land, they have distributed more than 450 to non Dalits and rest is going to horticulutre department and SIDCUL. The state authorities are hell bent not to give land to Dalits reflect the brahmanical nature of our state.

To raise the consciousness of these communities and highlight various such issues of land and forest rights violaion, Uttar-Pradesh Land Alliance is starting a foot march ( Padyatra) from December 13th, 2008. The Padyatra will begin from village Golbhojhi, Chandanchowki, Khiri district. It will cover many villages in the forest areas of Tharu locations. On 18th, it will enter Dhangarhi ( Nepal) where the Padyatris will halt for night and share their experiecnes with their Nepaliese counterparts.

The Padyatris will visit Mahendra Nagar, Nepal before entering to Banbasa, Uttarakhand in the night of December 20th. From there the Padyatra will visit the Tongia settlements in the forest areas who have not got their legal entitlment even years after living there. The yatra will cover, Khatima, Sisaikhera, Kichcha, Rudrapur, Kelakhaida and culminate at Kundeswari village, in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, where the Dalit landless workers have waged their constitutional fight against the mighty land owners and defeated them in the court of law and yet became victim of the highly insenstive Indian state for not implementation of the Supreme Court verdict, on December 28th, 2008.

Our Invitation : Uttar-Pradesh Land Allaince invite you to participate in the Yatra and donate in cash and kind for it. The weather conditions might be terribly cold so those who wish to participate here must bring their blankets and woolen cloths. Ofcourse, you will be able to see the Tharu hospility and wildlife. Dudhwa National Park is one of the biggest Wild Life Sanctury in the region. You will also find the uniquness of yatra entering Nepal and then to Uttarakhand and interact with the community people there also. UPLA remain committed to secular progressive ideals and is fighting against the caste oppression as well as women's right over resources hence our invitation extend to only those who respect basic human rights of communities and respect individual's right. We are committed to diversity and secular cause hence this invitation is not meant to those who want to flare of communal questions. More over, we believe that communities living for hundreds of years in forest can not be dislocated from their culture and history without fair consultation as well as rehabilitation in case it is essential. Please contact us in case you would like to participate or assist us. It is not necessary to be there for all 15 days but there is no bar on your stay. Our only thing is that the weatehr conditions will be unpredictable and severe cold, so those who enjoy naure and diversity, this is the right time. You must enjoy it and learn to live with communities and see how difficult they are facing their life. Yes, this Padyatra is a solidarity with all those communities who are denied human rights to live with dignity even 60 years after independence. It is our way to say that ' we care' for them and we stand with them in their struggles for dignity and human rights.

In Brief :

Date of starting : December 13th, 2008 at forest village Golbojhi, Chandanchowki, Khiri district UP

In Nepal on December 19th and 20th at Dhangarhi and Mahendra Nagar.

Entry in Uttarakhand through Banbasa on December 20th.

Culmination at : Kundeshwari, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar district, on December 28th, 2008

For Uttar-Pradesh Land Alliance

Suman Singh,

President

Ms Munni Begum,

Vice President

Ram Chandra Prasad

Convenor

S.P.Tyagi,

Tharu Development Society

T.S.Bhandari

Uttarakhand Development Institute, Banbasa

D.Leena

Social Development Foundation,

Delhi

and

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Social Development Foundation, Delhi

Land, Dignity and Freedom : A Padyatra

Documentry

Land, Dignity and Freedom : A Padyatra
Duration : One hour and 2 minutes,
Concept : Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Commentry : Hindi with English Subtitles


In the month of June, I and about 20 of my friends in the differents parts of Poorvanchal went on a pilgrimage to understand the issue of Land and its linkages with the issue of dignity and freedom. We covered nearly 400 kilometers in 22 days, over 140 villages, several major towns and four districts of Maharajganj, Deoria, Kushingar and Gorakhpur.

The report of the Padyatra had been made available to many of you and is very much available on my blog www.manukhsi.blogspot.com and on various other websites. Therefore, I am not going to repeat those things. I would stick to the film.

The film is divided into four parts. The first part is on Padyatra. The villages, the slogans, the public meetings and our halts and interactions with the people. The second part deals with the issue of Hunger and Starvation. We met many people who were suffering from hunger. The dying communities eating rats and snails. The futureless communities who feel betrayed even after 60 years of independence. Our attempt was to understand what exactly cause hunger and where is the governance. Deserving people do not have ration cards. No widow pensions, no houses for Dalits and most marginalised including women. Why people resort to eating rats and snails. What is the condition of the communities like Rajbhars, Chamars, Pasis, Bansfors, Swachchakars, Nonias and Mushahars. What is the status of land and access to forest and water ?


The third part deals with the issue of environmenal degradation and its impact on the marginalised communities particular the fishermen and marginalised farmers. Most of the rivers in Poorvanchal are rottening with the industrial wastes from these factories spills into rivers and agricultural areas. Today thousands of hectares of fertile land in Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Kaptanganj, Ramkola, and Chaurichaura is turned baren. The drinking water is a threat as it is thoroghly polluted. The suger mills and distillaries have played havoc with public life in these areas. During our Padyatra we tried to explore this issue of direct threat on livelihood through environmenal degradation.

And the fourth part of the film is the culmination of the Padyatra in Chaurichara where hundreds of people participated on June 22nd, 2007. They marched over 5 kilometer before reaching the historical monument of the sacrifice of Dalits and other communities in the Non Cooperation movement. A Chauri Chaura declaration was passed related to the growing discontent among various marginalised communities and suggested various measures to improve their conditions.

The Padyatra was an attempt to educate the masses about their human rights and constitutional safe guards meant for them. The Padyatra reiterated our faith in the ideals of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Jyoti Ba Phule, E.V.Ramaswami Naicar ( Periyar), Sri Narayan Guru, Shahuji Maharaj etc. That fight against poverty must be inked with fight for land right ( dignity) and against the brahmanical value system which has sujbugated people for years.

The film is not funded from any source hence we would ask for contribution.
The cost of the VCD is Rs 250/- or USD 15/- and the cost of DVD is Rs 500/- or USD 25. Postal-courier charges etc.


With regards,

Vidya Bhushan Rawat
vbrawat@gmail.com,

A Padyatra against Hunger and for dignity

March for Land, Dignity and Freedom

Hunger and starvation deaths in the eastern Uttar-Pradesh continue to haunt communities during the last one decade. Every year people are dying of different diseases particularly Malaria, and Japanese Encephalitis (brain fever). While the names have changed the target of these viral diseases remain the same communities.

Government and aid agencies launched campaign to tackle the starvation and hunger prevalent in the region. Many of these districts are under the National Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) yet reports suggests that the scheme is another way of ‘helping’ those who are power groups in the rural set up. They have rarely reached the masses. Many of the NGOs formed community groups to help them yet the food never reached. While it was good that government provide food aid to the dying people yet very few raised the issue that the hunger has raised its ugly head in the country because of the continuous antipathy of the government to the land redistribution programme. Contrary to this, more land was acquired in the name of development without providing enough and satisfactory rehabilitation. The victim of this unsustainable development have been the communities like Dalits, tribals and MBCs.

The numbers of landless communities in poorvanchal is substantial and are severely facing challenge to their livelihood. With more mechanized agri-farming, these agrarian workers are now jobless. Forests are already out of bound for them as forest department consider the poor forest dwellers as encroachers and exploit them. The Kumhars (clay potters) have lost their work to plastics and the fishermen are clueless at the moment as how to increase their income when most of their lakes are under the threat of sale. The migration to cities has increased in the past few years but now even those seems to be blocking the way of the rural poor with not only theocratic fundamentalist parties raising their ugly head against them but also the self styled protectionists of the secular ideas too feel that immigration to the cities is a threat.

Even when people were dying of hunger and starvation, the ‘nationalistic’ forces were doing their work in the villages, but not to help the rural poor get out of the poverty trap but to push them back into the Dark Age. To increase their woes, these forces have pushed people to superstition so that they do not question the injustice done to them.

That manual scavenging is still prevalent in the region reflect the condition of the Swachchakar community in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh. Communities like Mushahars, Bansfors, Swachchkars, Rajbhars, Chamars, Pasis; Chauhans, Nishads, Kumhars are facing severe threat to their livelihood and dignity.

Keeping in view of this, Uttar-Pradesh Land Alliance and Social Development Foundation, Delhi are organizing a Padyatra ( Footmarch) beginning from June 1st, 2007 till June 22nd , 2007. The Padyatra will cover four districts of Poorvanchal. They are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Deoria and Kushinagar. The Padyatra will start from the Tehsil headquarter of Ghughali, Maharajganj on June 1st. The Padyatra culminate at the Shaheed Smarak in Chauri Chaura on June 22nd, 2007. The Padyatra would cover more than 75 small and big villages and towns including Kushinagar, Ramkola, Padrauna, Kasaya, Fazilnagar, Pathardeva, Nautan, Deoria, Bhatani, Salempur, Laar, Bhagalpur, Barhaj, Rudrapur, Brahmnpur, Tarkulhadevi and Chaurichaura.

Padyatra will have public meetings, social audits and even training programmes related to land and livelihood. Not only this, the Padyatra aims to speak unambiguously against the caste oppression, rituals as well as exploitation in the name of religion, rituals and superstitions.


The Padyatra is named as Land, Dignity and Freedom which clearly indicate that we feel access and control to land and other natural resources is key to dignity and freedom of an individual and community. Today, this freedom is under the threat. The governments have failed in fulfilling their promises to implement the land and agrarian reform resulting in greater social chaos. In India, this situation is more complicated as the exploitation has not just economic dimensions but socio-cultural dimensions. And despite power equations at the political levels, the situation in the ground level has not changed much. That most of these communities who suffer indignities are the Dalits and most backward communities. Tragically, in the broader schemes of things also these communities are on the margins because of their minority status with in their villages and hence even in the broader Dalit-Bahujan framework they remain isolated and excluded.

The Padyatra aim to strengthen the community organizations in the region so that the development agenda is focused on community based. We sincerely feel that the developmental paradigms need to take a new turn and communities need to be targeted in the rural planning otherwise term like ‘rural poor’ in India would always help maintaining the status quo.

While many of our friends suggested against organizing the Padyatra in this scorching heat yet it was felt that it is the best time to understand how the communities we work with face such oppressive heat. Also due to summer vacations, many of you might find some time to join it. We are therefore extending you our invitation to join this Padyatra to understand the reason of hunger, starvation and social oppression in Poorvanchal. We will keep you updated with the movement of Padyatra through our regular mails.


Yours Sincerely,

Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Social Development Foundation, Delhi : Phone 011-65902846,

email : sdfindia@gmail.com

Ram Chandra Prasad, Dr B.R.Ambedkar Gramodyog Sansthan, Deoria
Ram Bhuvan, Jan Kalyan SanshtanChauri Chaura
Rajkapoor Rawat, Convener, UP Land Alliance, Mohammdabad, Ghazipur
D.P.Baudh, Lord Buddha Trust, Kushinagar
Indra Dev Mehra, Deoria
Ramasrey Nishad, Rudrapur, Deoria
Rajendra Sahni, Tal Ratoy Machchua Jan Kalyan Sansthan, Maryadpur, Mau
Sumitra Rajbhar, Dalit Mahila Mukti Manch Maryadpur, Mau
Rajan, from Swachchakar community in Laar
And many others