Voices of West Bengal's Hungry and Destitute

Asian Human Rights Commission

(Ed. note: This story is based on a press release issued on Sept. 27, 2005 at the conclusion of a people's tribunal organised by the Howrah-based Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha [Masum] and the Asian Human Rights Commission [AHRC] on Sept. 23 and 24 in the Jalangi area of Murshidabad District in the Indian state of West Bengal. The focus of the tribunal was to investigate the government's response to starvation in Jalangi caused by the rapid erosion of the Padma River that is destroying people's livelihoods and homes. Nine tribunal members- eminent Indian judges, doctors and social activists-heard the testimony of 28 families who have lost loved ones due to starvation.)

The erosion of the Padma River between India and Bangladesh transformed 65-year-old Samsher Sheikh, above, from a farmer into a pauper as well as others in his village of Dayarampur in West Bengal.  He lost his house and 80 acres of land and now tries to earn a living as a daily labourer.  While people have starved in the Jalangi area that encompasses Dayarampur due to a lack of government assistance, Samsher still has to pay the government taxes on his land that no longer exists. (Photo: EPA)

"I tied my father's corpse to some boulders and let it go into the river," said Sanjeev Karmakar. "It was his last wish. The river Padma has taken everything from us. When we lost all that we had, my father was not able to withstand the shock. He said that the river has taken all that we had. He asked us that when he died to give his body to the river. I did as he wished." Sanjeev and his father had run a small blacksmith's shop in a place that was suddenly swallowed up by the river, together with all their tools and equipment, on Sept. 10. His father died from the loss some three days later. The local authorities, which have been aware of the growing tragedy caused by the river's movement, gave the surviving nine family members a polyethylene sheet and a few kilograms of rice. The food is gone now. "By tomorrow or the day after, we will shift to the paddy fields," said Sanjeev. "We will build a hut there. I do not have any idea how we will survive." "By the way, can you give me some food?," he asked. "Maybe you have something left over from yesterday. It is OK even if it is bad or left over. My family is hungry." Nujera Bewa, a 30-year-old widow, told of raising her three young children alone after her husband died of a bronchial illness. "I do not have any property," she said. "My children hang around other people's houses; and if these people feel kind enough, they might give some food to them. Other than that, there is no possibility for my children to have any food, but, of course, I feed them whenever I get some money to get something to cook. As of now though, I have no option other than to beg."

Nujera herself is suffering from chest problems that prevent her from doing hard physical work. She has no way to get effective treatment though.

"The government hospital, which I am told should provide free medical help, does not have any medicine or machines. They do not have doctors either so I had to approach a private hospital and get my X-ray done [with the help of some others]. Since I am not recognised as a person living below the poverty line, I am not entitled to free treatment," Nujera explained.

Like Sanjeev, she complains of sheer neglect by the local authorities.

"All that we received . . . was 12 kilograms of wheat some six months before for the entire family and one blanket for my husband. When it is raining and when the whether goes cold, we have nothing to cover us up. We use old newspapers collected from the road to keep our bodies warm during winter nights," she said.

Nujera has refused to send her children away to a centre run by a charity for fear that they will be sold or adopted against her will.

"Even if my children starve, I cannot sell them," she said. "Maybe when things go so bad that I cannot hold anymore, we might end our lives."

"As of now we have no hope. I do not know what there is in store for me in the future. I do not know whether my kids will survive. But as things are now and as things have turned out for me, I wish that if they will also have to face the same future then it's better that they never survive to face it," she said.

"We witnessed human misery and absolute despair on the face of everyone in Jalangi," said Justice H. Suresh, a retired Bombay High Court judge.

Suresh, who for many years has been a key participant in the people's tribunal movement in India, was visibly shocked by the suffering he found in Jalangi.

"Starvation, we found, is writ large on the face of men, women and children everywhere," he remarked. "No one is sure of his or her next meal. There is no regular source of income, no proper jobs for many. Erstwhile land owners have become landless labourers with no particular vocation available to them. The way the erosion is going on, we have been shown, there is no land left in that region at all."

"We had the pathetic sight of a house owner situated very close to the river dismantling his own house to save as much as possible-perhaps only to land him in other surroundings and in another place [of equally bad circumstances]," Suresh added.

"We also found that quite a number of people are illiterate and they just do not know how to meet the situation. Some of them had been to government offices, but there is nothing to show that the government has given them proper information," he said. "In fact, many women demanded from us whether we could give them a BPL [Below Poverty Line] card, which would entitle them to only 10 days of food and nothing beyond."

"It is ironic that this district happens to be under the national programme for food for work," noted Suresh. "Starvation is a fact [in Jalangi], and a visit to the site and talking to the people would convince all who are concerned with people's right to live with dignity."

Among the food-related deaths reported to the AHRC, Masum and others present was the death of a hungry child who, in the absence of her mother, ate lime, thinking that it was curd. The child was taken to the local doctor who suggested that she be taken to the government hospital. Again, the government hospital stated that they had no equipment to treat the child.

In another case, an elderly man refused food after learning that there was none left for the other members of his family. Three days later he died.

The AHRC and Masum have repeatedly called upon the government authorities to take action to address the worsening conditions in Jalangi. The AHRC is also raising its concerns in international forums.

Although government authorities were notified and invited to attend the tribunal's public hearings, none were present.