It was 8:30 am. A delivery boy rang the bell of a house. Within a few moments, a girl opened the door. Her attire was quite elegant. Seeing the boy, he said, "Hey, you've come, wait a moment." Saying this, he called his mother and said, "Mom, please receive the parcel." My office hours are getting over, so I left. Then, bypassing the boy, he set off for the office.
Dear reader, the person I have been talking about so far is a girl from the Harijan community. Her name is Lata. She studied at a traditional government institution in Pabna. She has completed her master's degree and is doing a good job. It is really nice to think about it, isn't it? It can be said without a doubt that this change is a ray of hope, a bright sign of dispelling the darkness.
Dear reader, now I will tell you the sad story of the Harijans-
Minati Rani, got married at the age of 17 and came to her husband's family. She is currently 64 years old. Her husband died long ago. She lives with her son and daughter. Currently, there are 7 members in the family. The only son is taking care of the family. The son has no specific job. The family is somehow running by providing a bucket service in the villages. There is no additional income. They do not get any government facilities. Therefore, their family is running with great difficulty. Today, this 64-year-old Minati Rani is believed to be not very well. Every day, she sits in front of the colony next to the temple with deep worries. A kind of worry seems to be on her forehead. As the days go by, she is getting more and more depressed due to age. She was telling the reporter again and again, my life is at the end. What will happen to my son, wife and grandchildren? How will their family and relatives survive?
Before the city lights come on, when the footsteps of these people in the darkness wake up the city of Pabna, the roads are sparkling, the sewers are clean, the dirt accumulated in the hospital corridors all goes to a specific bin with the touch of an unknown hand. These hands belong to the Harijan community. Those who keep the city beautiful by cleaning the dirt, but no one cleans the dirt of their own lives. Their lives are like the shadow of the city's clean streets, shining, but inside is a layer of sweat and dust. They have smiles on their faces, but behind that smile lies the accumulated pain, neglect and pride for years.
Backstory:
47-year-old Dakshin Ramchandrapur Harijan Colony in Pabna. Dakshin Ramchandrapur is located near the city's Ananta Bazar. Around 1978, the government built 81 houses for 81 families. Within a big boundary. More than half a century has passed. Now 250 families live there, more than 2,000 people. Multiple families in one room. The veranda, kitchen, and even the corners of the house are now sleeping places. Sometimes 10-12 people are crammed into one room. Children are playing near the door, someone is sleeping near the kitchen, and someone is drying clothes on a rope hanging above their heads.
Mayarani Das, a 65-year-old elderly woman from Harijan Colony. Sitting next to the broken veranda, she said, “I came here as a wife, now I am my son’s wife, my grandson, everyone is in this one room (like multiple huts). There is no space, but there is no place to go either.” Her voice is sad, yet a little proud “We clean the dirt, that is why the city is beautiful. But no one looks at us. Even if you see our house, you would understand that we are human.”
The hardships of life:
No electricity, no water, nothing but hope. When you go to the colony, you see broken roofs, dilapidated walls, water leaking through the cracks in the roof. There is no drainage system, waterlogging during the monsoon, foul smell, and diseases are all nested together. There are only 6 toilets for 2000 people in the entire colony. Even then, there is no sewage disposal system.
Geeta Das, 50, said, “In the morning, you have to stand in line to go to the bathroom. Sometimes children cry, sometimes patients wait. We are human beings, but our life is like animals living outside.”
A children’s education center called ‘Bikash’ once taught children literacy. Now it has been closed due to lack of funds. Even then, the education of children has not stopped. They are receiving primary literacy in government and private educational institutions around the city.
A young man, Ranga Kumar Das, a cleaner in the municipality. said, “We work day and night. We keep the city clean. But our own colony does not get water, the drains are not cleaned. We should also consider ourselves human beings.”
In the eyes of society, the word ‘other’ Harijan still has the meaning of a social wall. Even though they are in the same country, they live in a different world. Their children go to school, but no one ever lets them sit next to their classmates. Sometimes other families do not want to share the water tap. “You are a person from that colony!” This one sentence breaks their child’s self-esteem.
A young college student, Shiva Das, said, “We are studying, but society still sees us as ‘sweepers.’ I want everyone to say one day, I am also a human being, not just a Harijan.”
Many lives in one room: The sad reality of housing in Harijan colonies:
Sri Kabiraj Hari, General Secretary of the Pabna District Branch of Bangladesh Harijan Oikya Parishad, said that 47 years ago, 81 pucca houses were built for 81 families of the Pabna Municipal Sweeper Colony, like barracks. Today, about 250 families, with a membership of more than two thousand, live in that place. Everyone can probably guess how much is allocated for each family. Within the allocated room, 2/3 partitions are made, many have to spend the night in the kitchen to get a bed. Again, many times they sleep/rest in shifts. The balcony is also a bedroom, the roof is a place to dry clothes. Since many people do not have enough space, they have to build a house on the roof (a hut).
Due to the financial crisis, it is impossible to live in rented houses, yet about 30 percent of families are forced to take shelter on the outskirts of the city. Kabiraj Hari sighs in his voice of poverty, “Our house is small, there are many people. There is no space, but the desire to live still does not stop, which is the traditional nature of people.”
Career: The dirty reality of a clean city There are currently about 350 cleaners in the Pabna Municipality, most of them from this colony. Their day starts at five in the morning. They sweep the streets, sweep the drains, carry waste. At the end of the day, they receive a few hundred taka in wages.
Paresh Das, 50, said, “If we do not work, the city will come to a standstill, but even if we work, our stomachs cannot feed us. The lights are on in the city, but we live in darkness (deprived of benefits).”
Another elder, Shanti Rani, said in a weak voice, “We have no holidays. Even when it rains, we have to work. We do not get raincoats, we do not get umbrellas. Even the festival bonus cuts into our salary.” Their faces are filled with immense bitterness, their hearts are filled with sadness, but their eyes still show a ray of hope. They are used to suffering, but they have not accepted defeat.
Geeta Das' question: "We keep people's houses clean, why are our houses so dirty?" As soon as we entered the colony, a silent face came into view: 65-year-old Mayarani Das, wife of the late Ranjit Das. Sitting next to a broken chowki, she said, "There is no place for boys in the family, they are old, they cannot work. The days are spent in poverty, and the nights are sleepless due to hunger." Sitting next to her was 50-year-old Sandhya Das, wife of the late Raj. She is disabled, but she tries to smile. She said, "The list comes in the name of government assistance, but our names are not there. Poverty is now our daily companion." Standing next to her was 70-year-old Shanti Das. She said, "We clean people's dirt, keep the city beautiful. Then why is our life so dirty?" What was in their voices was not a complaint but an unspoken sigh, a reflection of the hidden pain of a nation.
Paresh Das's day: Wandering around in the dark. Every morning, 50-year-old Paresh Das goes out in search of work with a basket in his hand and a bicycle on his shoulder. Sometimes outside the city, sometimes in the village. But every day he does not get work. He said, "If I do not get work, I do not eat anything at noon. Even then, I clean the toilets of someone's house, some give it to me, some try not to. There is a kind of silent protest in his eyes, as if he wants to say, "We remove the stench of the city, but who will remove the stench of our lives?"
Kantua Das shakes off his anger and says, "I drink alcohol not out of anger, but out of pain." Kantua Da, 65, and Jiban Das, 50, were sitting together in a corner of the colony. At the end of the day, both of them are tired. They say, "I wander around looking for work all day, I do not get any money. Sometimes I bring a bottle of wine because I owe money, and I drink it out of anger. This is not for happiness, but to forget the pain.” Shibuya Das, 65, sitting next to them, said quietly, “We don’t drown in alcohol, we drown in negligence.” Their words were filled with a deep pain, as if centuries of neglect, generations of sorrow, and a yearning for a little dignity were mixed in every breath.
Minati, 65, said, “I am looking old. My age is almost over. I came to this village for marriage. What is a health card, what is a ration card, what is a government grant? I don’t know if it is an old age allowance or a widow’s allowance card. I have never seen a health worker come to this village. He gave us health treatment.
The story of alcohol: addiction or prevention?
When I went to the colony, I saw that some men gather after evening. Someone was pouring clear liquid alcohol into glasses. For them, it was not an addiction, but a habit. Kantua Das, 60, said, “I clean my excrement and urine all day long. The smell makes my nose stop. "We don't get tired of eating rice without taking a sip after work." Their words convey the reality of pain, "We don't get drunk on alcohol, we get drunk on pain. Alcohol only makes us forget for a while."
The light of education is slowly shining: Now, about 30 percent of children in the colony go to school. They study at Imam Ghazzali Girls' School, Zilla School, Central Girls' High School and nearby institutions. Already, 20 have passed SSC, which was once unthinkable.
Bijay Kumar Das, vice-president of Harijan Oikya Parishad, said, "Education is the only liberation. But due to lack of money, the education of many talented boys and girls stops midway. Still, they dream and hope that one day this colony will be illuminated by the light of education, and our lives will change."
In terms of career change and education, the leaders of the Harijan community are reluctant to talk. What emerges from going around the colony and collecting information is that the leaders are not very enthusiastic about the promotion of career change and higher education among their people. Because some people think that if the members of the Harijan family move forward in career change and education, the tide will turn under their leadership. Several children of the Harijan community have already made great progress in education. Some work in the police, some even do corporate jobs.
Surviving on assurances: Before every election, a flood of assurances comes to the colony. There will be new houses, water, drainage, employment, but after the election, everything disappears, no visible change comes to their fate.
Subal Das, president of the Harijan Oikya Parishad, sighs and says, “We have been hearing only assurances for 47 years. This time we want reality. We want a proper roof over our heads.”
Pabna Deputy Commissioner Mofizul Islam said, “A proposal for a housing project for the Harijan community has been sent. Work will begin once approval is received.”
They said as the administrator said, but the word “will” now sounds like fatigue to their ears. Because they have been hearing “will” for 50 years but nothing is happening.
Some of the municipal workers in Harijan ColonyWhen talking to the workers, they said, we have to work regardless of the sun, rain, day and night, time and place. But unfortunately, the municipality itself does not take care of our inquiries.
When asked about the complaints, they said, there is no umbrella, no raincoat in the rain. There is no torchlight for safety when working at night and returning home, no uniform with the municipality's monogram. Requesting to be named in a pitiful tone, they said, there is no government allocation except for puja in our colony. The money that is given is called bonus. Every month, 100 taka is deducted from the salary. So what does the municipality authority mean by bonus.
Jahangir Alam, the administrator and additional deputy administrator (general) of Pabna Municipality, was contacted to find out about this. After hearing the complaints, he said, actually, I do not know anything about this. And without knowing, I cannot say anything. He suggested to find out from someone higher up in the municipality. But despite several inquiries during the preparation of this report, no one could be reached for comment.
Hope in the light: The generation is changing the story. There is some light in all the darkness. Some are working in the police, some in corporate offices. They are proving that the children of cleaners are no longer cleaners.
A young man said, “We clean the city, but our dreams are not dirty. We want our children to pick up books, not brooms.” There is determination in their voices, hope in their eyes. For them, dreams are not a luxury, but the only tool for survival.
From neglect to dignity, the Harijan community is not just a profession, it is the name of a struggle, a fight for existence. They are the wheels behind the city, whose daily life moves forward with their hard work and sweat. “They wipe the dust of the city, but no one wipes the dust accumulated in their lives.” If this society really wants to be enlightened, then that light must reach every dark room of South Ramchandrapur. Because the light of humanity is complete only when the people of the marginalized communities of the society are also illuminated by that light.
Pabna Press Club President, eminent journalist and cultural organizer Akhtaruzzaman Akhtar said, it is now important to identify the problem and solve it quickly without letting it live. The problems of marginalized women, Dalits, disabled people, transgenders, and indigenous people are endless. But there is no real initiative. These communities are running their livelihoods, homes, and families with great difficulty, with only assurances from the government, public administration, and public representatives. To get rid of this mental pain, it is important to take practical and effective steps. They have a stake in this social change. That must be kept in mind. In addition, a legal decision must be taken by the government for their welfare. The law that will expand the path of their rights and welfare. They must be brought back to the mainstream of our country's population and properly evaluated. If this can be done, most of their problems will be solved.
After talking to the people of the Harijan community, it was found that although there are various government and private service providers, they are unaware of many things. The issue of housing and employment is being shaken up by repeated complaints and allegations. Poverty is a major obstacle to their normal activities. They have many needs to live a normal life. But meeting the needs is a very narrow matter. It is important to ensure the government's facilities. Similarly, it is very important for GEO-NGO representatives to go to their doors to give them first-hand knowledge at the private level. The government's will for the people. If that is implemented, the people of this community or group will definitely benefit a lot.
A project called Expanding civic space through active CSO participation and strengthened governance system in Bangladesh (ECSAP) has been jointly implemented by Christian Aid, Amara Pari Family Violence Prevention Alliance and Foundation for the People. Through this project, the capacity of various organizations working with various marginalized communities such as marginalized women, Dalits, persons with disabilities, transgenders, indigenous communities will be increased so that these communities can properly enjoy their rights. The project will be implemented in Rangpur, Kurigram, Dinajpur, Natore, Pabna, Sirajganj, Khulna, Jessore, Satkhira and Dhaka districts.
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