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The three children are not fortunate enough to receive any medical care or, needless to say, enough food. All three children are from the Musahar (literally translated as rat-eating) community in India's state of Uttar Pradesh. The Musahars are considered to be "untouchables" in the Hindu caste system. They live in appalling conditions and are forced into bonded labor and other forms of exploitation by the upper castes. This occurs mostly at the hands of the neo-feudals of the state -- the Patels and Yadavs -- otherwise known in the rest of India as members of the Other Backward Community, or OBC.
After the implementation of welfare policies for the backward communities in India, the Patels and Yadavs have taken over the position once occupied by the Brahmins. They share power with the other upper castes in the Hindu community. Once in power, the Patels and Yadavs have quickly discovered the benefits of an economy rooted in caste-based discrimination. The reign of Mulayam Singh, a Yadav and the former chief minister of the state, facilitated this process through the most corrupt means.
The land the Patels and Yadavs acquired by various means, often illegal, requires a large amount of labor. The easy option has been to make use of members of the "scheduled castes" and "scheduled tribes." The members of these communities were bonded laborers for the Brahmins, the Kshathriyas and Vyshyas, along with the Patels and Yadavs in the past. The Patels and Yadavs, now liberated, expect their former partners-in-suffering to work for them. The result is the continuation of caste-based discrimination and bonded labor for members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Musahars belong to a scheduled caste in Uttar Pradesh, though they are declared a tribe elsewhere in India. They are considered untouchable by all the caste Hindus. They live in isolated ghettos in rural villages in the state. As of today, they are deprived of any form of education or employment other than forced labor on farms. Though they live on small islands surrounded by lush and fertile fields where they work, they are not allowed to take a single grain to their house from these fields.
Paid less than US$1 per week per family, they have to depend on discarded food to feed themselves. Often they are forced to eat rats and mice to stay alive. They live in single-room thatched huts. The roof leeks when it rains, and the floor becomes muddy once the water seeps inside the hut.
The Patels and Yadavs, who have now become village heads and landlords, prevent the Musahars from getting medical care and access to welfare schemes from which the Patels and Yadavs themselves benefit. Moreover, while the public food distribution shops, now under the control of the Patels and Yadavs, receive food grains in the name of the Musahars and other backward castes, the grains are fed to the cattle, not to the people. In fact, the bulls, cows and buffalos of the Patels and Yadavs are better fed than members of the untouchable communities who work for them. Those who complain have been killed or beaten up in public as a lesson to others.
Adding to the suffering of the Musahars is the continuing neglect by the state administration to the plight of these people. Mayawathi, the current chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, though belonging to the outcast Chamar community, has done little to resolve the exploitation and destitution of the Musahars. The chief minister has declared at least a few dozen times that the eradication of caste-based discrimination is her government's priority, but practically nothing has been done toward achieving this policy objective.
Children continue to die of starvation in the state, particularly from the Musahar community. For example, 18 children died in the span of three months in the ghetto of Raup Musahar in 2003 and 2004. Five died in the Belwa Musahar ghetto in 2005, and three children died in the Riatara ghetto in 2006. The government, however, refuses to admit that any of these deaths are due to malnutrition or starvation. Rather, the government claims that all these children died from pneumonia or tuberculosis.
Any policies and programs that the state administration initiates to address caste-based discrimination and its unjust and deadly effects have to be ultimately implemented at the local level. This requires the cooperation of the Patels and Yadavs who literally rule the locality. The public service system in the state is so corrupt that even the most willing head of state cannot correct it without implementing strong measures. The police and judiciary have withered to such an extent that to reinforce these public institutions would require a substantial amount of effort for a considerable period of time.
It is circumstances like these that test the honesty and integrity of a public leader like the chief minister of a state. The chief minister has spared no public space to claim that caste-based discrimination will not be tolerated by her government. This assertion is, indeed, political will, and one could even claim it as a public expression of an ideology.
However, only translating this speech into action will generate respect for the minister and her government. Several months after she assumed power, nothing is visible at the grassroots. If this lack of action continues, one can assume that Mayawathi is no different from her predecessor, Mulayam Singh Yadav. While her predecessor helped members of his community and the Patels, whatever Mayawathi does, she will not be accepted as a Patel or a Yadav.
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(Bijo Francis, a human rights lawyer currently working with the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong, contributed this column while visiting Uttar Pradesh. He is responsible for the South Asia desk at the center. Mr. Francis has practiced law for more than a decade and holds an advanced master's degree in human rights law.)
