Elections come calling for Mushars!

There are so many tribes and communities living in India, some of them we have never even heard of; what with the Indian media concentrating only on politics, as though nothing else ever happens in the country, this is bound to happen.

So there is one more community, which we have rarely heard about – Musharas. Hailing from UP, they live close to Varanasi. They were given this name – Mushars because of the fact that they used to maintain their living by catching and  eating the rats (local name “Musha”) found in the open field.  In olden days, when the caste system was made, it was based on a person’s occupation and was not a birthright. So these Mushars would have been the shudras because of their occupation but society has made it permanent label and the same thing perpetuates, generations after generations. Considered to one of the lowest of the low castes, they live in object poverty.

Well, their plight has not changed; they continue to live in ghettos, with no running water and toilet facilities, hard pressed for employment. Their children do go to school but majority of them drop out, either due to discriminatory treatment meted out to them by the ‘upper caste’ or poverty driving them to cities to seek employment.

This is one community which no Govt, no manifesto talks about and all govt schemes have by passed the Mushars. But the good news here is that for the first time, they too have been recognized and many would have caste their votes, for the first time ever in 2014 elections. Now that is a small beginning; at least when the politicians recognize this vote bank, they will start working during elections for their upliftment. Yes, elections are good!