The 'rat eaters' of India

[mr42O]

Darbhanga, Bihar - Far away from the high-decibel political campaigns in India’s parliamentary elections, a group of semi-naked children frantically search for something to eat in the marshland of their village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.


These children belong to the Musahar community ("Musahar" meaning "rat eaters" in Bhojpuri), a socially marginalised community placed at the bottom rung of India's hierarchical caste system.

About 250 families from the community have been living in Kubaul village in Darbhanga district for the past 150 years.

"Earlier our meals were dependant on the availability of rats and the grains that we would procure from the rat holes," Malhu Sada, 74, a member of the community, told Al Jazeera. "However things are changing for some families as their children have gone to different states to work. We now catch rats mostly during the harvesting season."
The state government has accorded them Maha Dalit status, which makes them eligible for various government schemes that have failed to lift the community out of poverty and backwardness.
Narayan Ji Choudhary, founder of Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad (MGVP), an NGO that works for the welfare of the community, said: "The condition of Musahars is the worst of the lot. Some of the lower caste communities work as bamboo artisans, cobblers or cleaners but Musahars are unskilled labourers. This is the reason that they are the lowest rung in the caste hierarchy even in the scheduled castes."
Residents of Kubaul village have decided to boycott the current elections for being discriminated against.
"All the neighbouring villages have electricity with all the basic amenities, but we still live in such inhuman conditions. There aren’t any schools and the nearest school is 2km away," Kusum Lal, 72, said.
"Children have to cross a river to reach school and the river is full throughout the season. During the rainy season, our village gets cut off from everything as we don’t even have a road to reach our village. Our demand is 'road nahi, toh vote nahi' (No road, no vote)," he added.
The community found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are landless and don’t have their own livestock. While some manage to buy food, most still have to procure food every day and which involves scrounging whatever they can such as small fish, snails and even cockroaches.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inp...544438226.html

 

[Areesh]

Ufff.

 

[DRaisinHerald]

They're just poor people. Poverty is never fun...

 

[Sugarcane]

That's sad state of affair - It's difficult for a rich country like India to pull village of 250 families out of these miserable conditions. But in this world life of humans have no value.

 

[EagleEyes]

Unfortunate, wondering why super duper economy is not able to fix this issue?

 

[doritos]

they need a smaller population

 

[Levina]

. Our demand is 'road nahi, toh vote nahi' (No road, no vote)," he added.

Interesting!!!
I hope our netas are listening.They better do.

 

[MilSpec]

Unfortunate, wondering why super duper economy is not able to fix this issue?

Super duper economy has massive disparity in spread of wealth, illiteracy is high, and the scale of population is unfathomable, coupled with corporate interests, lack of political will, chalta hai attitutde for urban india, and massive corruption in the top most echelons of administration.

We are poor people of a wealthy nation.

 

[KingMamba]

This is sad nobody should have to eat something so nasty, wealth disparity is huge in Bharat.

 

[EDLdefence]

Caste system.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Unfortunate, wondering why super duper economy is not able to fix this issue?

Because they have a Mighty Army Headed by The Great Bikram Singh who is hungry for funds for expensive weapons to boost his imaginary pride.

This is sad nobody should have to eat something so nasty, wealth disparity is huge in Bharat.

because their rich r too busy in some more ''important things''. Their country is a Classic Example of Rich and Poor divide.

Adult toys: Bold business in coy India - Yahoo India Finance

 

[banvanaxl]

Darbhanga, Bihar - Far away from the high-decibel political campaigns in India’s parliamentary elections, a group of semi-naked children frantically search for something to eat in the marshland of their village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.
These children belong to the Musahar community ("Musahar" meaning "rat eaters" in Bhojpuri), a socially marginalised community placed at the bottom rung of India's hierarchical caste system.
About 250 families from the community have been living in Kubaul village in Darbhanga district for the past 150 years.
"Earlier our meals were dependant on the availability of rats and the grains that we would procure from the rat holes," Malhu Sada, 74, a member of the community, told Al Jazeera. "However things are changing for some families as their children have gone to different states to work. We now catch rats mostly during the harvesting season."
The state government has accorded them Maha Dalit status, which makes them eligible for various government schemes that have failed to lift the community out of poverty and backwardness.
Narayan Ji Choudhary, founder of Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad (MGVP), an NGO that works for the welfare of the community, said: "The condition of Musahars is the worst of the lot. Some of the lower caste communities work as bamboo artisans, cobblers or cleaners but Musahars are unskilled labourers. This is the reason that they are the lowest rung in the caste hierarchy even in the scheduled castes."
Residents of Kubaul village have decided to boycott the current elections for being discriminated against.
"All the neighbouring villages have electricity with all the basic amenities, but we still live in such inhuman conditions. There aren’t any schools and the nearest school is 2km away," Kusum Lal, 72, said.
"Children have to cross a river to reach school and the river is full throughout the season. During the rainy season, our village gets cut off from everything as we don’t even have a road to reach our village. Our demand is 'road nahi, toh vote nahi' (No road, no vote)," he added.
The community found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are landless and don’t have their own livestock. While some manage to buy food, most still have to procure food every day and which involves scrounging whatever they can such as small fish, snails and even cockroaches.

Thank you @mr42O. In the mad rush towards earning more and owning more of the stuff I already have, much more than I need anyway, I often tend to slip and forget about about issues much more graver than paying the emi for my 2nd car. Thank you mate, whether you did it maliciously or out of genuine concern is something I really don't care about. You did me favor, maybe all of us a favor.

Let stop our e-peen contest for a day and all do something for the have-nots. I for one am definitely going to do my bit tomorrow.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Thank you @mr42O. In the mad rush towards earning more and owning more of the stuff I already have, much more than I need anyway, I often tend to slip and forget about about issues much more graver than paying the emi for my 2nd car. Thank you mate, whether you did it maliciously or out of genuine concern is something I really don't care about. You did me favor, maybe all of us a favor.

Let stop our e-peen contest for a day and all do something for the have-nots. I for one am definitely going to do my bit tomorrow.

yr just an individual, what best u can do for them?

BTW the people like u who feel for their own people in yr country r generally getting less.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Dude we r far better then this. Wakeup and do something for yr own then comparing with us and our standards.

 

[atatwolf]

Although we won't understand this we have to have respect for other people's cuisine.