**In the twilight world of Musahars, an untouchable community in India, Girija Devi is a shining exception. **
After leading a spirited drive to root out alcoholism and get the government to work for her community in the troubled state of Bihar, she has become the first woman from her community of rat-eaters to address a United Nations convention.
Musahars are so poor that their staple diet often comprises mice.
On 27 February, the unlettered Girija Devi will lead five women from India at the international meeting to talk about the status of women. She will speak in her local Bhojpuri dialect. “I will speak for the equal rights of women and try to draw the attention of the world to women in my state,” she says.
Rampant habit There’s no end to the problems of women - and men - in the Musahar community.
There are about 1.3 million Musahars in Bihar. Less than 1% of them are literate - the lowest in India, and some 98% of them are landless.
The Musahars mostly work on the farms owned by landlords and go without work for up to eight months a year.
No wonder alcoholism is rampant among Musahar men, who end up spending more than half of what they earn on cheap locally brewed liquor.
This hurts the women and children most.
But in her dirt-poor village of Bhirkia-Chhapaulia in East Champaran district, Girija Devi decided to pick up the gauntlet and launch a war against alcoholism a few years ago.
Leading a group of women, she demolished local liquor vends and toddy pots hung on the trees by their men. When the sorority found the men drinking, they shaved their heads, garlanded them with shoes and paraded them around the village to shame them into kicking the bottle.
Girija Devi has always led by example - her husband Singheshwar Majhi was the first alcoholic to face her wrath.
Her untiring efforts have led to 125 Musahar villages in East Champaran to become “alcohol free”. “Earlier our men would come home drunk and beat us up. Now things have completely changed, and our husbands treat us with respect. All thanks to Girija Devi,” says Dhanmati Devi, a local villager.
Stories that dont get full media coverage, amazing women.
^ sad but it exists. The worst part is that India has turned away from addressing these issues. Infact you can find 'untouchables' in india's industrial cities as well.
You have a case of how an utouchable woman from India running successful movement.
You have reservations for lower class upto 50%+ in all jobs. You have special packages for them across..
Though rather than looking at great progress lower class have done in India, with a President (Narayanan), with a Defence Minister (Jagjivan Ram), with a chief minister (Yadavs), and many more and I can keep going...
My Pakistan guppies want to keep looking at incident and keep turning them into burning India........
India has it flaws, though basic guiding principles are strong and seem sound on which India is moving in right direction in economic spehere, and is turning into a melting pot of various religious/ ethnic people, to the extent that Pakistan guppies many a times refuse to accept Indian Muslims as true Muslims.
So look at India from different prespective, its your neighbor and is now world's third largest economy growing at 7-8% a year (only lower to china), question about what's happening here rather than passing armchair judgemnet...
Upper caste Hindus in a Bihar village beat up and humiliated a Dalit man for entering a temple and offering prayers, police sources said. Four men attacked Braj Kishore Paswan in Astipur village near Hajipur in Vais.
These are pugnacious traditions still present in Bharat-mata. It's because of these traditions that most Bharatis are turning away from their religion.
Silly why dont u be in ur bill.
Can u please state what caste the chief minister of that state is. Is he considered forwerd cast or not.
Bhai sab.. i know ur cynicism, it gives u great kicks to get some news like this from the Indian media. Is Pakistan free of all this. U are only 150 millon, we are 7 times that. Now why dont u try treating ur ladies with some respect if u will. Rain in ur tribal and village lords please. and stop all those bad publicity that comes from pakistan if u will. Then point a finger at us. Will u.
Almost all women and girls being trafficked in India belong to low castes and minorities.
Trafficking of SC, Dalit girls
Approximately 98 per cent of women and girls being trafficked belong to Scheduled Castes, other backward castes and minorities, according to a report called ‘Bojh’ released by NGO “Bhoomika Vihar” on Sunday at a workshop on “Trafficking of girl children” organised by it here. The NGO had carried out a survey in the Kosi-Mahananda region. The workshop was attended by representatives of NGOs of Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi and other states. All the speakers stressed on community action against both trafficking and traffickers.
“Bhoomika Vihar” convenor Arun Kumar stressed that trafficking of girls was going on in the country, girls were also being brought from Nepal.