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Singh Labad
Sarkegaad 6, Humla
You must have already heard about the higher caste disrupting the water supply to our taps and using the water from the source as they please? They do not worry about us or our children. As long as they can step on our backs they will. They do not see any sin in that.
Many people might think that things are improving. They might be improving for other communities and castes but not for us Dalits. In fact it has worsened. Recently they took away the land we used for farming. The reason they gave us was that they are building roads. All our cultivable land went into building the tracks and the roads do not come to our houses.
On top of losing our lands, our daily living is made difficult. We are not given a steady supply of water by the ‘high-castes” that live above us on the hill. As an outsider coming from the city, this all might look dirty to you, our houses might look shabby and our toilets unclean. But what everyone coming from the city must understand is that our struggles are still the ones that were prevalent centuries ago. While there might be celebrations of change in the country, nothing has really changed for us. We still live under the shadows of the higher caste and our lives are like these paths – risky and steep.
Now we are only left with some meters of land where our homes stand. We have no place to grow our crops. And did they compensate us for the land they took? Did they give us an alternate way of livelihood? No. They blatantly said we do not own papers for the land we were farming on. We have been doing that for ages. We have our blood and sweat mixed in that soil and all of a sudden it is not ours because we do not have papers. Dalit communities were never given land let alone papers of ownerships. It was all handed over to the people who ruled.
Once an organization came to our community with pipes, pans and cement. They asked us to build our toilets. We are thankful for that because going into the forest is not easy especially for old people and women. But during monsoon, the walls of the toilets would break and some would even collapse. And so when the toilets need repair we have no financial capacity to rebuild them. It is a not a matter of hundreds but thousands [of rupees]. The problem is also the labour required. Many of the homes here lack able strong men. They only house the elderly, women and children. If the toilet breaks who is going to build it for them?
You must understand that ours is a fight for survival – to keep breathing and trying to hustle for food, make some pennies so that we can buy salt and oil. And now that our lands are our gone, we have to buy vegetables and other things. That is a big financial burden for us.
सिघं लाबड
सर्केगाड ६, हुम्ला
धेरै लाइ लाग्ला कि परिस्तिथि बदलिएको छ । कुनै समुदाय र जातको लागि होला तर हामि दलितहरुको लागि हैन। झन बिग्रिएको छ । हामिले खेति गर्ने जमीन पनि लगियो। बाटो बनाउने भनेर हामिलाइ भनियो। हामिले खेति गर्दै आएको जमीनबाट खनिएको बातो हाम्रो घर सम्म आउने पनि हैन।
अब हामिसगं केहि मिटर जमिन छ जहा हाम्रो घर अडिएको छ। खेति गर्ने केहि नि बाकि रहेन। अनि हामिलाइ हाम्रो जमीनको बापत केहि पनि दियिएन। न कुनै जिविकापार्जनको लागि अरु अवसर। हामिसगं हम्रो जमिनको कागज़ छैन रे। हामि त्यहा हाम्रो बाजेको पाला देखि खेति गरिरहेका छौ । त्यो माटोमा हाम्रो रगत र पसिना मिसिएको छ । हामिलाई कहिले कागज़ दियिएको थियो र ? न जमिन उपलब्ध गरायिएको थियो न कुनै कागज़ नै दियिएको थियो। सबै सासक हरुले नै त लिएका थिए।
जमिन त गयो तर हम्रो जिवन पनि सजिलो छैन। माथि बस्ने ठकुरिहरुले पानि रोकिदिन्छन। तपाईलाइ यो ठाउ फोहोर लाग्ला , हाम्रो घर पुरानो लाग्ला तर सहर बाट आउने सबैले यो बुझ्नु आवस्यक छ कि हम्रो सन्घर्श फरक छ । धेरै पुरानो हो। पर्वर्तन को उत्साह देशमा होल तर हम्रो लागि केहि परिवर्तन आएको छैन। हामि जातिय बिभेद को छायामा बाच्नु परेको छ र हाम्रो जिवन येहि बाटोहरु जस्तो कठिन र भिरालो छ।
केहि समय अगाडि एउटा सन्स्था आएको थियो जस्ले हामिला इ पाइप , प्यान र सिमेन्ट दिएको थियो। हामि लाइ खुसि लागेको थियो किन भने ट्वाइलेट गर्न जन्गल जान सजिलो थिएन खास गरि बु्डा बुडिलाइ र महिलाका लागि । मैले आफ्नै घरमा पनि यो समस्या देखेको छु । हामिलेले खुसिका साथ ट्वाइलेट निर्माण गर्यौ । तर तपाइले बुज्नु पर्ने कुरा के हो भने हाम्रो समस्या कसरि खाने कसनि बाच्ने हो। केहि पैसा कमाएर नुन तेल ल्याउने हो । अब खेति गर्ने जमिन नरहेपछि तर कारि हरु पनि किन्नै पर्यो। हामिलाइ धेरै अर्थिक समस्या परेको छ ।
जब हाम्रो ट्वाइलेट बिग्रियो हामि सगं मर्मत गर्ने आर्थिक हैसियत थिएन। सयको कुरा पनि हैन, हजारौको कुरा आ उछ। बनाउने कामदार पनि अर्को समस्या हो। गर्न सक्ने बलिया पुरुशहरु सबै बिदेसिएका छन । घरमा खालि महिल र ब्रि्धाहरु मात्र छन। ट्वाइलेट भत्कियो भने कोले बनाउने?
त्यस माथि हामिले माथिल्लो जातको हरुबाट बिभेद खप्नु पर्छ। हाम्रो पानिको पाइपहरु काटिन्छ। उनिहरुलाइ हाम्रो छोराछोरीहरुको केहि मतलब छैन । जब सम्म हामि माथि सोशन गर्न सक्छन गरिरहन्छन । त्यस्मा उनिहरु केहि पाप देख्दैनन।
