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On kamaiyas: an update

   Though this report quotes me too, I shou 28-Jan-04 ashu


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ashu Posted on 28-Jan-04 01:20 AM

Though this report quotes me too, I should clearly explain that, given my other professional commitments, I am not as active as I once was -- in the year 2000 and early 2001 --on this issue, though I do stay in touch with Dilli and other activists who
did and are doing most of the important work for the rehab of freed bonded laborers.

Enjoy this piece.

oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal


***********
Why Nepal's Freed Laborers Want to Return to Slavery

Sanjaya Dhakal
OneWorld South Asia

27 January 2004

KATHMANDU, Jan 27 (One World) - Many of Nepal's 19,000 bonded families freed more than three years ago are returning to slavery, thanks to grinding poverty and the government's inability to rehabilitate them, with activists warning they could be lured to take up arms by Maoist rebels.

"Between 15 and 20 per cent of the families that were declared free have returned to the same old practice of slavery," says the president of the leading nongovernmental organization (NGO), Backward Society Education (BASE), Dilli Chaudhary.

Bonded laborers are called Kamaiyas and belong to Nepal's backward Tharu indigenous community. The practice is prevalent in the far-western districts of Bardiya, Banke, Dang, Kailali and Kanchanpur.

This month, while celebrating a community festival in Bardiya district, over 400 miles west of the capital Kathmandu, a group of freed laborers offered prayers for a return to the old days.

Bambare Tharu, who lives in a camp of freed laborers in Sonah district, has sent back his eight-year-old daughter on a one-year contract to work for his former landlord.

"Since it was difficult to make ends meet despite working as a laborer all day, I decided to send my daughter to the landlord," says Bambare. His profit for enslaving his child - 600 kilograms of rice.

"We are working people, but now neither do we have work nor assistance. Without becoming slaves again, we will not be able to make ends meet," laments Karange Tharu of Sonah.

Along with 37 other families, Karange is planning to enter into a contract with local farmers to become bonded laborers for a year.

Likewise, Binti Ram Tharu of Dang district has decided to send two of his sons to work as slaves in the house of a local landlord.

Pradeshi Chadhary of the same district has sent two daughters to work as slaves in the house of a farmer. According to reports, in Dang district alone, this year 105 former slaves have returned to the practice of bonded labor.

Activist Ashutosh Tiwari, though, says the situation is not as bad as it is being portrayed. "The ex-slaves are agricultural laborers. There is nothing wrong if they return to work for the landlords; but these landlords should not be allowed to victimize them in serfdom as before," he says.

Dilli Chaudhary agrees, but adds, "The government has not yet fixed the minimum wage for ex-slaves, so they have started to return to the house of landlords. There is no safety of occupation there."

It was sheer poverty that forced the Tharu community to borrow rice and food from their employers - who were generally big landlords - and get trapped in slavery.

Robert Gersony writes in a report prepared for USAID, "Some loans were documented with standard 50 per cent annual interest, payable in cash or kind. But some employers took advantage of Tharu illiteracy by having them sign repayment notes, which overstated the amount of food or cash provided or charged even higher interest."

Once indebted, the laborer and his heirs were 'bonded' to the landlord. They had to actually reside on the landlord's property until the debt was repaid, which seldom happened.

In fact, the laborers had to take more loans to survive, and interest was compounded year after year until many Tharus fell into a state of permanent indentured servitude.

In July 2000, the government declared them free and stated that loans taken by the slaves were null and void. The authorities also promised proper rehabilitation of freed laborers who now had no work.

They were also promised land and other benefits. The authorities announced they would provide each family with a small tract of land, US $140 in cash and 35 cubic feet of wood to build a house.

"But till now, only around 5-10 per cent of ex-slaves have received the promised land and benefits," says Dilli Chaudhary.

Thousands of former slaves still live in government-built sheds in a state of deprivation.

"There are many ex-slaves who have received land receipts but no land. And even those who have got land, discovered it was on the riverbanks," says Pancha Ram Tharu, once a bonded laborer.

To remind the government of its commitment, Dilli Chaudhary led a delegation of ex-slaves to meet Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa two weeks ago.

Chaudary also submitted a petition signed by 10,000 Danish students - who visited the camps - to the Prime Minister, asking him to take initiatives to fulfill the government's promises.

"The government has not forgotten its promises. We will set up a separate commission to coordinate our efforts to properly and fully rehabilitate the freed laborers," says Thapa.

Likewise, Ministry of Local Development officials say they are doing their best to help the ex-slaves.

Activists believe the ex-slaves should be given adequate financial help and allowed to engage in agricultural work, which they have been doing for centuries.

Many NGOs and government agencies are working to help the freed laborers. There are literacy classes for them and they are taught income-generating skills such as plying rickshaws.

"An environment must be created so the ex-slaves can work in a morally and legally justifiable occupation," says Tiwari.

Another cause for worry is that the Maoists could exploit their plight and lure the bonded laborers into taking up arms. "We have already apprised the government of this possibility," says Tiwari.

Adds Chaudhary, "Till now, very few ex-slaves have joined the Maoists, but the authorities must be alert and prevent the situation from worsening."