Friday, September 08, 2023
Advertisement
Pavel Partha | Published: 00:00, Sep 07,2023
GROUNDWATER is rapidly depleting in Bangladesh. Water scarcity has been a growing burden nearly everywhere, from the plains to the hills, from the Barind tracts to the haor regions. For subaltern people, particularly people from indigenous communities, this crisis made surviving systemic inequality and ethnic prejudice increasingly harder. In the Varendra region, indigenous farmers committed suicide when they could not gain access to irrigation water. In Chimbuk or Lama, many villages are deserted because of water scarcity. Deserted are the many Munda or Rakhaine villages affected by water salinity in the coastal region. In haor frontiers, Mandi and Hajong habitats are suffering. All the hullabaloo about neoliberal, aggressively masculine development has created this water scarcity. The fossil-fuel-dependent consumerist civilisation and its consequent climate crisis have added to the crisis. On what ground will people stand then? For all indigenous people, water is a sacred, living being. The development encounters have robbed indigenous people of their water sources, drinking or otherwise. The right to water is not protected in many indigenous regions. There is no water justice.
In the last boro season, there was another suicide. On April 9, 2023, Mukul Saren, a Santal farmer, committed suicide. For over a week, he knocked on every door possible to gain access to water for his paddy field, but he failed. Exasperated, Mukul felt he had no other option but to drink poison (hazardous pesticides used in agriculture). From his village, Barshapara, a dying Mukul was rushed to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where he later died. Some may have heard the name of his village, Barshapara. Pari Tudu’s School, the first school that offered lessons in the Santal language in Bangladesh, is in his village. The school is now closed. A noisy road splits the village, with the drought-hit barren land on one side and the school on the other. The village stands facing the Barendra Multipurpose Development Authority’s deep tubewell. The machine operator’s room or the control room for the deep tubewell is also here. Not far from here is the village of Nimghatu — the village of Abhinath and Rabi Mardi. They too have embraced the same fate as Mukul after being denied access to irrigation water. In March 2022, they committed suicide.
At the time of their suicide, the machine operator was Md Sakhwat Hossain. Abhinath and Rabi’s family filed a case of abetting suicide against Md Hossain. He spent a few days behind bars before he secured bail from the court. Meanwhile, the BMDA removed him from his position and appointed Hashem Ali Babu as machine operator. If one only pays passing attention to Mukul’s plight, it becomes clear that Hashem Ali treated santal farmers unfairly in the same way that Md Hossain did when he denied Abhinath irrigation water and told him to drink poison till he died. Abhinath, Rabi, and Mukul—all three deaths demonstrated that the water scarcity in the Varendra area is as much about climate change as it is about structural inequality in an ethnically chauvinistic state. Unless the state changes its policy and becomes more attentive to the issue of groundwater depletion and its discriminatory management, indigenous farmer suicides will be a routine annual occurrence. Placing all the blame on climate change for water scarcity and denying the policy-level ethnic bias in groundwater management, aren’t we waiting for a disastrous future for the farmers in the Barind tract?
What happened in 2022?
BEFORE Mukul Saren’s death, in a nearby village, two brothers, Abhinath and Rabi Mardi, committed suicide. They took poison on March 23, 2022. Abhinath was a landless farmer, like the majority of his Santal community. After his death, from the first information report of the case filed by his wife, we now know, ‘…that Abhinath’s family was farming on 25 katha (local unit) leased land under the jurisdiction of Ishwareepur 2 No BMDA’s tube well, and it is situated in Ishwrareepur mouza and just opposite to the local government building of Deopara Union Parishad under Godagari Upazilla. Abhinath had harvested paddy during the boro season, which fully depends on groundwater irrigation. When he needed irrigation water for his land, he contacted the accused machine operator. As he couldn’t arrange water for his farmland, in 10–12 days, his seedlings were dying. On the fateful day, about 4 pm in the afternoon, Abhinath came to the machine operator and asked, Why is he not given irrigation water? The accused verbally abused Abhinath and said, `I will not give water to your land; go drink the poison.’ Abhinath died at night in his home. Rabi Mardi was also a landless Santal farmer like Abhinath of Nimghatu village, and he also harvested paddy, failed to get irrigation water, and lastly committed suicide by poison. Rabi was rushed to the hospital in the district town with his family members. There he died on the night of Independence Day, March 26, 2022.
State’s liability and indifference
IN THE Varendra area, farmers, particularly indigenous farmers, are repeatedly left with no option but to take their own lives. Yet neither the policies nor the citizens are vocal about the situation. The little that is reported in the media about the position of the authority, when analysed, shows little empathy towards suffering farmers. Referring to the suicide of Mukul Saren, the executive director of BMDA said, ‘…is poison so cheap? Why has he taken poison again? After last year’s incident, have we removed the machine operator? Why has such an incident happened again?’ Earlier, after the deaths of Abhinath and Rabi Mardi, the additional chief engineer of BMDA said, ‘…paddy field was not destroyed due to water scarcity; it is unbelievable that the farmers died mourning the loss of their harvest. If there are any irregularities in the distribution of irrigation water, actions will be taken.’ Even if it was late, the ministry of agriculture had taken steps after the deaths of two Santal farmers in 2022. They had formed a four-member probe committee to investigate the allegation of discrimination against indigenous farmers.
Machine operators were removed, not ethnic chauvinism
AFTER what we know as the green revolution in the agricultural sector was introduced or declared, farming in the region became dependent on groundwater, which was supplied through deep tube wells or similar technologies. In the process, the local power structure gained control of the newly introduced machine-based irrigation system. Pre-existing class relations and structural inequality were reproduced in groundwater management, and on many occasions, it reinforced existing polarisation in society. The machine room of BMDA does not always supply irrigation water. There is supposed to be a routine and cycle for water supply based on demand. In reality, the cycle is broken along class and ethnic lines. With no access to irrigation water, some see their farmland burst and their harvest destroyed. Their sweat and their hard labour all go in vain. People denied access to irrigation water say that even when they provided the necessary paperwork and did all that needed to be done, they had to wait days and weeks for water. Such allegations of discrimination are commonplace, particularly from the poorest of the poor, landless, indigenous men and women. On February 13, 2023, when we visited Barshapara and Nimghatu, we saw some truth to their allegation that Bengali farmers are prioritised. At Abhinath Mardi’s house, his brothers, Haren and Michael Mardi, piled up their paddy seedlings by the bamboo bushes. It is not just the story of Nimghatu or Barshapara; it is the story of many other villages in the Barind tracts. Many vulnerable, marginal farmers, many from indigenous communities, are denied equal access to irrigation water. After Mukul Saren’s death, the accused, Hashem Ali Babu, confessed to the fact that he denied irrigation water to Mukul. However, he too resorted to the colonial plot of haria (traditional rice beer of Santal). After the deaths of Abhinath and Rabi Mardin, the Bengali operator and the BMDA authorities said they died from excessive haria consumption and not poison. It is the prejudice of the mainstream Bengali that sees indigenous people as the haria-driking, snake-eating other. In these stereotypes, the traditional liquor of indigenous people is regarded as the root of all problems. This stereotypical view hides the existing structural discrimination and unresolved inequalities. After the death of the Santal farmers, many Bangladeshi media outlets also wanted to sell the haria story and hide the larger political issues. However, they failed. Medical reports proved that Santal farmers had consumed poison, not alcohol.
Global case of farmers’ suicide
MANY studies on suicide suggest that farmers are more vulnerable to suicide in India, Sri Lanka, the USA, Canada, and Australia. In 2020, the Centre for Disease Control in the USA reported that, among farmers, suicide cases were higher than in other professions. According to Wikipedia, in 1980, at least 1,500 farmers committed suicide in the USA. Every four days in Australia, every week in the United Kingdom, and every two days in France, farmers commit suicide. In 1995, according to the National Crimes Bureau in India, about 300,000 farmers (296,438) committed suicide. The tendency to commit suicide was higher among the farmers in Maharashtra, Odissa, Telengana, Andhraprades, Madhyaprades, Guzrat, and Chattisgarh. A similar tendency among the farmers in Bangladesh was also reported. In 2016, the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research reported that 55 per cent of the suicide cases were of farmers or landless daily labourers in the agricultural sector. The question is: why such a high number of suicide cases among farmers, locally and globally?
In India, there is research that shows that loss of harvest, agricultural debt, farming of GMO crops, drought, fatal diseases, the burden of an unwed daughter, and domestic and political disputes all led to farmers’ suicide. In some areas of Maharashtra, a weak irrigation system is blamed for a higher incidence of suicide. No rain, drought, or weak irrigation systems lead to a loss of harvest; the burden of agricultural debt gets heavier, and farmers are left with no choice but to take their own lives. P Ghosh (2013), R Gagdekar (2013), and S Swine et al. (2017) identified these reasons behind farmers’ suicide. In 1983 and 1988, farmer suicides increased due to drought.
In Bangladesh, the media reports on farmer suicide suggest that they take their lives when they are unable to feed their families. The price increase in agricultural products, the denial of a just price for their produce, social deprivation, the climate crisis, and the rising burden of debt work as catalysts. Abhinath Mardi, Rabi Mardi and Mukul Saren’s suicides, as family and society said, were because of the denial of access to irrigation water.
Gani Mia, Abhinath, Rabi, Natha Das, or Mukul Saren
DO YOU remember Gani Mia from your childhood textbook in Bangladesh? Gani Mia was a poor farmer; he did not have his own farming land. He used to work on other people’s land. Gani Mia’s characters are long gone from our textbooks, but they continue to exist in reality. Landless farmers still work on others land. They borrow for seed, pesticide (poison), or irrigation water. No one lends a hand when they lose their harvest. They take bullets for fertilizer. They drink poison to get access to irrigation water. In 2010, a Bollywood film was made about farmer suicide and the media’s response. The film, ‘Pipli Live’, was produced by famous Bollywood actor Amir Khan. The story is about a poor farmer, Natha Das, from Peepli, a drought-hit village in India. Water scarcity and a debt burden prompted Natha to decide that he would take his own life. The story was leaked to the media, and they camped outside of his house, providing news on his impending suicide. Pre-existing local political drama intensifies. A lot was discussed in the media except for the real crisis facing farmers like Natha. Exasperated by the happenings in his village, Natha leaves for the city and becomes a construction worker. The same could have been the fate of Abhinath, Rabi, or Mukul. Many Gani Mia or Abhinath are now lost in the urban poor areas.
In the Barind tract, groundwater is rapidly depleting. Surface water is long gone. The irrigation water crisis and structural inequality in water management and supply kept the line of farmers with bottles of poison in their hands growing longer. Abhinath, Rabi, and Mukul are just three names ringing the bells of grimmer days to come. Can we hear their stressed tones?
Pavel Partha is a researcher and writer. Translated from Bangla by Anmona Zoardar.
More about:
Sign up to exclusive daily email
Advertisement
A brief history of Bangladesh: 1757-1971
Deconstructing judicial independence
Water injustice and Santal farmer’s suicide
Feminism and Digital Security Act
A nation in metamorphosis
Electoral authoritarianism and unfinished struggle for democracy
Bangladesh: democratic trainwreck or derailment?
Caretaker government and moral imagination
A nation in metamorphosis
Feminism and Digital Security Act
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Editor: Nurul Kabir, Published by the Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan on behalf of Media New Age Ltd.
Hamid Plaza (4th floor), 300/5/A/1, Bir Uttam CR Datta Road, Hatirpool, Dhaka-1205. PABX: +8802-9632245-48.
Fax: +8802-9632250, E-mail: [email protected]
Sign up to exclusive daily email
© 2023 Media New Age Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Developed By HTG Solution Ltd.