‘Why are the poor cursed with hunger?’

By Vijay Kumar Sah,Dhalkebar, Jan. 7: Lagan Mahara of Gaurdaha, Dhanauji Rural Municipality–2, Dhanusha, is 81 years old. He is frail and weak and would like nothing more than to rest at home but he cannot because he is a bonded labourer. For the past 15 years, Mahara has been working in the paddy fields of local Jagadish Mandal as a bonded labourer Haruwacharuwa. It is exploitation and Mahara knows it. But he has no option. It is the only way he can get grain to feed his family.

“Is there a way to keep the stomach from emptying?” Mahara questioned this reporter. “Why are the poor cursed with hunger? Why do our bodies demand food we cannot afford; food that forces us into servitude to obtain?”

The food in question is eight kilos of rice Mahara receives from Mandal as his daily wage. He has to use this rice to feed his family and also manage to sell some to make money to fulfil his their basic needs. Mandal gave Mahara five Katthas of land to work on a decade and a half ago but he gave it under the Haruwacharuwa system, which is basically indentured service. That is why, in addition to field work, Mahara also has to carry out household chores for Mandal. It is hard for the octogenarian but, “What else can I do?”

“All we have to our name is this,” Mahara showed a house that was crumbling apart. “It’s either work like this and get some food or stay unemployed and have nothing.” The house stands on just six Dhurs of land. A part of its roof has collapsed and has been covered with plastic. Here, he lives with his second wife, 72-year-old Mahawati Mahara.

Mahara has six children from two wives. All are married and all live their lives separately. “Our sons do not care for us. We [My wife and I] are all we have,” he grieved. But Mahara’s wife is bedridden. She has not been able to walk for the last 10 years. It was for her treatment that he borrowed Rs. 100,000 from moneylender Mithilesh Sah at an interest of three per cent per annum. “It is unbearable,” he cried. “My only income is those eight kilos of rice. What do I eat and what do I use to pay the interest?”

Bindeshwor Mahara, 50, also of Gaurdaha, is also a bonded worker. Villager Ram Kumar Mandal gave him five Katthas of land five years ago to work as a Haruwacharuwa. He too gets eight kilos of land with which he has to feed his family of nine. “Life is a struggle,” he said with sorrow.

Lagan and Bindeshwor are only two of over 70 families of Gaurdaha who have been forced into bondage by poverty. They are exploited and mistreated, yet, they have to suffer in silence because they have nowhere to turn.  “We are Haruwacharuwa,” said Bindeshwor.