সেদিন নর্থ ইস্ট ইয়াহু গ্রুপে হিতেশ কলিতা CNN এর থেকে একটা সংবাদ পাঠায়ঃ
BUNDELKHAND, India (CNN) -- The cattle slowly drag the old-fashioned plow as a bone-thin farmer walks behind, encouraging them to move faster with a series of yelps.Drought, debt and desperation have pushed some farmers in rural India to sell their wives.Drought, debt and desperation have pushed some farmers in rural India to sell their wives.It is a scene from times of old, but still the way many farmers operate in rural India, where the harvest often determines feast or famine.The region is called Bundelkhand, spanning the two northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It is here that drought, debt and desperation have pushed people to extremes.To survive the bad years, some farmers say they turn to the "Paisawalla" -- Hindi for the rich man who lends money. Farmers say the loans from these unofficial lenders usually come with very high interest.
When the interest mounts up, lenders demand payment. Some farmers work as bonded laborers for a lifetime to pay off their debts. Others here say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for.Sometimes that includes their wives. It happens sometimes when somebody borrows money," says a farmer's wife who did not want to be identified. She should know, considering what police say she told them. She said a rich man bought her from her husband.
"He did buy me," she says. "That's why he told me he bought me."For 30 days she says the man forced her to live with him.When her case drew public attention, she retracted her police report and her husband took her back.Ranjana Kumari with India's Center for Social Research says the exploitation of women is common in the region. And, she says, there is little support for women in India who have the courage to file a case with authorities."Nobody's going to support or help them," Kumari says. "If a family decides not to help them, the system is already not so sensitized towards them, whether it is police, judiciary, whether the legal system. So the women themselves tend to withdraw these cases." In another village, another story involving another farmer, and money lender.
"I sold my water engine and land and gave back his 30,000 rupees," the farmer says, describing his $600 loan payment.
The farmer, whom CNN is not identifying to protect his wife and children, says the lender then asked him to send his wife to help with chores while the lender's wife was sick. The farmer says he complied, and his children -- including his daughter -- went too.But the mother never returned. The farmer says he believes she was stolen from him. The daughter says the lender sold her mother to another man.State authorities say they have investigated the matter and found that the mother denies she was sold and has simply gone to live with a lover.
The daughter says that's not true, and claims that she and her father were told to keep quiet by some of the village leaders. During CNN's interview with the family, officials with the state magistrate's office barged into the farmer's home and began videotaping.An Indian government report completed in 1998 says the region is prone to what it calls "atrocities," including the buying and selling of women.However no one can say just how common these kinds of incidents are.Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand.
"Those women are very vulnerable to all kinds of physical and sexual exploitation." Kumari says. "Also there is much higher level of violence against women in that area."The government and charities have been trying to help but the status of women and girls, often illiterate and seen as a financial burden, remains low. Nevertheless, attitudes are slowly beginning to change, Kumari says.
A farmer's wife in yet another village in the region said she was sold by her own parents 14 years ago."My mother and father got 10,000 rupees (about $200)," she says. "That's why they sold me."She says she was 12 years old at the time her husband bought her. She never considered going to authorities because she says she had no where else to go. She accepted it as her destiny.But now she has a daughter of her own and her perspective has changed.Would she allow her daughter to be sold?
She looked up and shook her head firmly.
"No," she said, "I would not want this for her. Let her marry however she wants."
জবাবে আমি লিখি ঃ
It's age-old practice in Indian Society. Women are most suffered community in a situation like drought , Tsunami , Food, War and Riot. In Assam also hundreds of father and Husband ( sometime even mothers) sell their child to the Flash Traders. This is how India treat it's 'MatriShokti'; of which a good section of it's citizen feel proud.They rather more concern about the Burqa that Muslim women wore. By the way, on selling their women Muslims do not behave differently. Here unity of both the community is unique. We can
feel proud about these type of great Indian Unity :) :)
Sushanta
সে আবার লেখেঃ
India is in 'IT super power...nuclear power....Chandrayaan 1 ....2...."300 Crore project" for building Shivaji Statue ....but what about poor people....sometime I get frustrated to think of our leaders......what are they doing for uplifting of farmers....I heard some scheme for farmers..but does that fund reach to the farmers???
আমার আবার জবাব ছিলঃ
The Leaders are not of the poor and peasantry. It's Cristal clear. Depending on them will only lead to the frustrations. In a country where staying at a Dalit's home by Rahul Gandhi became news, it's very clear that not staying there for years do not necessarily become any news. And this is the real fact.
Sushanta kar
এ ক'দিন ধরে আমি 'উত্তর বঙ্গের ভাষা' নামে একটা বই পড়ছি। তাতে অসমের করিমগঞ্জ জেলার বদরপুর কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ শিব তপন বসুর রাজবংশী মেয়েদের ভাষা নিয়ে একটা লেখাতে হঠাৎই এই প্রসঙ্গ পেয়ে আমি আবার লিখেছিঃ
Dear
Hitesh,
Selling Wives and Girls were so acute in Bengali and Assamese societies that the sufferings of women got expressions in folk-stories as well. there was a Rajbongshi Folk Drama( লোক নাট্য) Maya Bondhoki ( মায়্যা বন্ধকী) where the land lord ( জোতদার) is telling to the women , whome he kept as mortgage from her husband,
Swami Gise tok bondhok thuiya Ar na paribe chutaiba
jor koriya ohe bahe tok korim beha
( স্বামী গিসে তোক বন্ধক থুইয়া আর না পারিবে ছুটাইবা
জোর করিয়া অহে বাহে তোক করিম বেহা।)
In reply the woman Kironsori (কিরনসরী) is saying :
Swami gise mok bondhok thuiya dhormer poth ar cinilen na,
pao dhoriya kohocu katha, hamak aar chuyen na.
(স্বামী গিসে মোক বন্ধক থুয়্যা ধর্মের পথ আর চিনিলেন না,
পাও ধরিয়া কহচু কাথা, হামাক আর ছুয়েন না।)
In an another folk song the girl child is saying to another lady:
Bap Mao mor duracar, byacya khailek durantor.
Oki bhabee re ( buji) aar na dekhim mui bonduar barire.
( বাপ-মাও মোর দুরাচার, ব্যাচেয়া খাইলেক দুরান্তর।
ওকি ভাবী রে ( বুজি ) আর না দেখিম মুই বন্দুয়ার বাড়িরে!"
I was reading a book 'Uttor Bonger Bhasha' where I got these references.
Sushanta Kar
মনোজ দাস (dasmk2k@gmail.com)আজ ৩১শে অক্টোবরে আসামনেট.অর্গএ মন্তব্য করেঃ
The adverse sex ratio in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab due to selective killing
of girl foetus has lot to do with this crime. In coming years it will be
more acute.
mkd
জবাবে আমি লিখিঃ
It's a vital point Monoj! Good saying!
Sushanta
BUNDELKHAND, India (CNN) -- The cattle slowly drag the old-fashioned plow as a bone-thin farmer walks behind, encouraging them to move faster with a series of yelps.Drought, debt and desperation have pushed some farmers in rural India to sell their wives.Drought, debt and desperation have pushed some farmers in rural India to sell their wives.It is a scene from times of old, but still the way many farmers operate in rural India, where the harvest often determines feast or famine.The region is called Bundelkhand, spanning the two northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It is here that drought, debt and desperation have pushed people to extremes.To survive the bad years, some farmers say they turn to the "Paisawalla" -- Hindi for the rich man who lends money. Farmers say the loans from these unofficial lenders usually come with very high interest.
When the interest mounts up, lenders demand payment. Some farmers work as bonded laborers for a lifetime to pay off their debts. Others here say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for.Sometimes that includes their wives. It happens sometimes when somebody borrows money," says a farmer's wife who did not want to be identified. She should know, considering what police say she told them. She said a rich man bought her from her husband.
"He did buy me," she says. "That's why he told me he bought me."For 30 days she says the man forced her to live with him.When her case drew public attention, she retracted her police report and her husband took her back.Ranjana Kumari with India's Center for Social Research says the exploitation of women is common in the region. And, she says, there is little support for women in India who have the courage to file a case with authorities."Nobody's going to support or help them," Kumari says. "If a family decides not to help them, the system is already not so sensitized towards them, whether it is police, judiciary, whether the legal system. So the women themselves tend to withdraw these cases." In another village, another story involving another farmer, and money lender.
"I sold my water engine and land and gave back his 30,000 rupees," the farmer says, describing his $600 loan payment.
The farmer, whom CNN is not identifying to protect his wife and children, says the lender then asked him to send his wife to help with chores while the lender's wife was sick. The farmer says he complied, and his children -- including his daughter -- went too.But the mother never returned. The farmer says he believes she was stolen from him. The daughter says the lender sold her mother to another man.State authorities say they have investigated the matter and found that the mother denies she was sold and has simply gone to live with a lover.
The daughter says that's not true, and claims that she and her father were told to keep quiet by some of the village leaders. During CNN's interview with the family, officials with the state magistrate's office barged into the farmer's home and began videotaping.An Indian government report completed in 1998 says the region is prone to what it calls "atrocities," including the buying and selling of women.However no one can say just how common these kinds of incidents are.Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand.
"Those women are very vulnerable to all kinds of physical and sexual exploitation." Kumari says. "Also there is much higher level of violence against women in that area."The government and charities have been trying to help but the status of women and girls, often illiterate and seen as a financial burden, remains low. Nevertheless, attitudes are slowly beginning to change, Kumari says.
A farmer's wife in yet another village in the region said she was sold by her own parents 14 years ago."My mother and father got 10,000 rupees (about $200)," she says. "That's why they sold me."She says she was 12 years old at the time her husband bought her. She never considered going to authorities because she says she had no where else to go. She accepted it as her destiny.But now she has a daughter of her own and her perspective has changed.Would she allow her daughter to be sold?
She looked up and shook her head firmly.
"No," she said, "I would not want this for her. Let her marry however she wants."
জবাবে আমি লিখি ঃ
It's age-old practice in Indian Society. Women are most suffered community in a situation like drought , Tsunami , Food, War and Riot. In Assam also hundreds of father and Husband ( sometime even mothers) sell their child to the Flash Traders. This is how India treat it's 'MatriShokti'; of which a good section of it's citizen feel proud.They rather more concern about the Burqa that Muslim women wore. By the way, on selling their women Muslims do not behave differently. Here unity of both the community is unique. We can
feel proud about these type of great Indian Unity :) :)
Sushanta
সে আবার লেখেঃ
India is in 'IT super power...nuclear power....Chandrayaan 1 ....2...."300 Crore project" for building Shivaji Statue ....but what about poor people....sometime I get frustrated to think of our leaders......what are they doing for uplifting of farmers....I heard some scheme for farmers..but does that fund reach to the farmers???
আমার আবার জবাব ছিলঃ
The Leaders are not of the poor and peasantry. It's Cristal clear. Depending on them will only lead to the frustrations. In a country where staying at a Dalit's home by Rahul Gandhi became news, it's very clear that not staying there for years do not necessarily become any news. And this is the real fact.
Sushanta kar
এ ক'দিন ধরে আমি 'উত্তর বঙ্গের ভাষা' নামে একটা বই পড়ছি। তাতে অসমের করিমগঞ্জ জেলার বদরপুর কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ শিব তপন বসুর রাজবংশী মেয়েদের ভাষা নিয়ে একটা লেখাতে হঠাৎই এই প্রসঙ্গ পেয়ে আমি আবার লিখেছিঃ
Dear
Hitesh,
Selling Wives and Girls were so acute in Bengali and Assamese societies that the sufferings of women got expressions in folk-stories as well. there was a Rajbongshi Folk Drama( লোক নাট্য) Maya Bondhoki ( মায়্যা বন্ধকী) where the land lord ( জোতদার) is telling to the women , whome he kept as mortgage from her husband,
Swami Gise tok bondhok thuiya Ar na paribe chutaiba
jor koriya ohe bahe tok korim beha
( স্বামী গিসে তোক বন্ধক থুইয়া আর না পারিবে ছুটাইবা
জোর করিয়া অহে বাহে তোক করিম বেহা।)
In reply the woman Kironsori (কিরনসরী) is saying :
Swami gise mok bondhok thuiya dhormer poth ar cinilen na,
pao dhoriya kohocu katha, hamak aar chuyen na.
(স্বামী গিসে মোক বন্ধক থুয়্যা ধর্মের পথ আর চিনিলেন না,
পাও ধরিয়া কহচু কাথা, হামাক আর ছুয়েন না।)
In an another folk song the girl child is saying to another lady:
Bap Mao mor duracar, byacya khailek durantor.
Oki bhabee re ( buji) aar na dekhim mui bonduar barire.
( বাপ-মাও মোর দুরাচার, ব্যাচেয়া খাইলেক দুরান্তর।
ওকি ভাবী রে ( বুজি ) আর না দেখিম মুই বন্দুয়ার বাড়িরে!"
I was reading a book 'Uttor Bonger Bhasha' where I got these references.
Sushanta Kar
মনোজ দাস (dasmk2k@gmail.com)আজ ৩১শে অক্টোবরে আসামনেট.অর্গএ মন্তব্য করেঃ
The adverse sex ratio in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab due to selective killing
of girl foetus has lot to do with this crime. In coming years it will be
more acute.
mkd
জবাবে আমি লিখিঃ
It's a vital point Monoj! Good saying!
Sushanta
